Lent 1 

Mark 1. 9-15 

in, by, with and on 

Harvey S. Mozolak

without human contact 

for forty days 

a space and time 

the Spirit drove 

in silence 

but not in solitude 

Satan dangled 

what flesh and blood 

must need and have and do 

with beasts whose nature 

has grown wild 

beyond their day of naming 

only angels wait at the edge 

of emptiness 

to fill with the glory 

of obedience 

the space and time of loss 

we without such sacred contact 

hear the call with repentance 

to await his return 

from the desert waste 

become the kingdom 

God's pleasure and love 

teased by our arrest 

to come near 

where angels wait 

with wild beasts 

tempted by Satan 

and torn apart 

by the descending Spirit's sending 

to a greater trial 

among the stripped and arid trees 

of a wilder forest 

Lent 1

Mark 1. 9-15

enclosure

Harvey S. Mozolak

the beasts are assumed

snakes and scorpions

hyena-types

dripping toxin sap 

twitching whiskers taunt

tails tucked 

claws and paws bloody

ripping

) strange parentheses (

carcassing vultures

winged beasts beyond human reach

and

and the heavenlies

teethed with lightning

offering what was once

manna 

with and waiting on

he returns to the world 

(also full of wild beasts)

alone