Published by Vita Poetica, a Washington based Arts & Faith Collective, in their online Advent Calendar, in Dec 2020 . They were looking for submissions on the theme of Incarnation. I only thought to call the poem Incarnation ages after I had first written it. It's about a rare occasion Dad and I were out cycling together, on our way out to my yougner brother's grave, when I was about 14. In late October 2020,, I spotted a call for submissions on that theme for a 2020 Advent Calendar, and thought I'd send it on. Was surprised and delighted for it to be selected.
Incarnation
Me on a bike
Strange, not routine
Not something that normally happened
And with me
My Dad
On the other bike
That had been lying in the garage for ages
Peddling away
My bike swerving in and out
As I struggled to find a rhythm, a flow
And, my Dad, to my amazement, struggling too
Not much, but a little
My Dad, ever competent and in control
Had entered into something
He was awkward at
To be with me
On that late autumn afternoon
A glimpse, perhaps,
Of how it might have been
for God to become one of us?
Photo by David Mancini on Unsplash