Where the Earth Shifts

So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.”

Genesis 6:13

In those days I met my burning brethren
when I was within the fire
with its flickering death and ire 
when I saw hate in the eggs of their eyes.

Then I saw the scroll of God in the mist-tinted air
where before there hung only despair.

I see this flickering, flickering, flickering 
tribe of lies there where the earth shifts and seizes. 

I am seeing my streaming home  
there where the river eyed men and women
rend their faces in rivulets of tears.

I see the flickering, flickering, flickering clouds
there where the dark hides the heavens.

I see the snaking surprised eyes
where once these same eyes bulged with desire.

Now I am feeling the mountains quake;
now I am seeing the far-off race of wrath;
now my heart is tasting the approach of His grace; 
now I am sensing the moments assemble. 

Listen, my soul, I am hearing,
right now I am hearing,
His eternal thematic preamble. 

(The above image is from the painting “Deluge” by Ivan Aivazovsky.)

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Ben Plunkett

Greetings from the booming metropolis that is Pleasant View, Tennessee. I am a man of constant spiritual highs and spiritual lows. I pray that I serve God at my highest even when I am lowest.

Ben was a founding member of Rambling Ever On and a regular contributor and editor until his untimely death in April 2020.

We wrote a tribute to him, but the best tribute you can give him would be to read all the wonderful poems, short stories, book reviews, theological essays, and ridiculous satire pieces he wrote for us. Pass them on to others and maybe allow Ben to inspire you to write something yourself.

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