Shadow of Your Wing

This article is part of the Claritas spring 2024 issue, Home. Read the full print release here.

By: annina bradley

Shadow of Your Wing

leaving

as the sun sinks toward the horizon

spilling its yolk,

i will it to stop—

wishing i could remain forever

along these familiar roads

desert sage and alpine glow,

i trace the hilltops, the back of my hand;

these mountains and their rivers 

witnessed my early footsteps in their soil

the plane takes off

and thrust of acceleration 

tugs at the k n o t

in my t h r o a t

i look out the window—

watch as the fields and flora shrink to squares,

memories of biking down my neighborhood street,

harvesting apricots from my grandmother’s tree,

grow distant 

with each increase 

in elevation 

by the time my feet touch ground again,

i find myself

unanchored 

searching

adrift

i wait for the dove to fly back to me,

budding branch in its beak,

a promise of land

in this land of concrete, 

on a park bench 

i watch

the swallows and their wings 

flapping across a formless sky,

i wonder if they ever tire,

if 

they ever long 

for more than a birdbath, 

resting only a moment

before taking flight again,

as if searching for some other place 

to call home

beyond the clouds that cloud

the constellations 

i cannot see

amid city sirens and echoes,

i cannot imagine

how far my voice must travel 

for God to hear it—

if it must outrun light

but then i question 

if it must travel that far

at all

for who laid creation’s

 foundation?

who clothes the fields,

directs the dove?

who causes dawn to know its place,

to take hold of the ends of the earth?

found

the same sun that hid its face

rose again

extending its soft rays

across the valley, 

illuminating the grasses’ morning dew

the finches and the jays

i can see now, aren’t weary

they whistle, flipturning 

their song reveals

but a fraction of Your glory,

there is no upturned stone

where You are not found

my life’s footpaths,

once imprinted in the sand,

are quickly swept with tide,

i am but a breath—

yet from generation 

to generation

You breathe life

once uprooted

i am now rooted

in You, the everlasting Source

there is no distance 

i could cover

uncovered by the shadow of Your wing

there is no corner of Your creation

where You have not already gone before me,

Pillar of Cloud, Pillar of Fire

Unchanging Rock of Ages

You place my feet

on solid ground.