Challenging Poetry

Saint Kitts and Nevis: crossing the river

his heart was sized
for a giant’s as he carried
the Christ child
and with Him all the sins
and cares of the world—
the anger and greed
and politicking. the sadness
of widows—the motherless.
the childless. the graves so
small that they are
only a footnote. he bore Him
across a river
wide as the world,
though his knees faltered
and his shoulders ached
and he fell down
knowing his Lord.

Author's Note ▶︎

This poem came out of the fact that Saint Kitt's is named for Saint Christopher, the patron of children and travelers (at least, I think that's so. I don't know the doctrine of the saints except as a theoretical exercise). The story of the saint carrying the child across the river is fascinating to me, and so that's where this went. It only relates to the country peripherally, of course.