Eternally in Bloom

 Eternally in bloom, the Tree of Life,
Stands on a mountain at the end of time,
Where no storm shakes the tender leaf,
Nor darkness pale its bright display.
And from its feet, the Savior’s tears,
Shed for the sorrows of mankind,
Burst from the ground, to form a stream
Across the desert of our lives.

I heard you weeping in a barren land
Where I had wept alone for many years.
A place where all roads circle back
To reach the place where they began.
I heard you pray to be made whole,
As I had prayed a thousand times,
Hoping at last to find the path
That leads beyond the desert’s edge.

Where no path leads, the river sweetly sings,
“Come to the living spring, that cannot fail!
Come to the source, drink deep, be healed,
And you will never thirst again.”
Along its banks the desert ends,
Those who walk its course are healed,
And soon their tears become a song.

Pilgrims sing in the wilderness.

-          For Amy Ostertag, 1995