Holding The Light, B.E. Boykin

Concert recording of the Providence Singers, March 11, 2023 at Grace Church in Providence, RI. Christine Noel conducting.

Holding the Light

Gather up whatever is
glittering in the gutter,
whatever has tumbled
in the waves or fallen
in flames out of the sky,

for it’s not only our
hearts that are broken,
but the heart
of the world as well.
Stitch it back together.

Make a place where
the day speaks to the night
and the earth speaks to the sky.
Whether we created God
or God created us

it all comes down to this:
In our imperfect world
we are meant to repair
and stitch together
what beauty there is, stitch it

with compassion and wire.
See how everything
we have made gathers
the light inside itself
and overflows? A blessing.

-Stuart Kestenbaum, from Only Now (Deerbrook Editions, 2013).