come sunday/with cold & blue jays

sunday came, cold and luminous;
first after the epiphany, jesus' baptism:
i remember jesus coming "straightway out of the water,"
back bare, brown, and luminous.
o ye frost and cold, bless ye the lord:
praise him and magnify him for ever.
o ye seas and floods, bless ye the lord:
praise him and magnify him for ever.

i am walking, after the epiphany,
after the great thanksgiving,
hoping. i am hoping to see the holy,
a bush burning in cold lord's day light.
o ye children of men, bless ye the lord:
praise him and magnify him for ever.
o all ye green things upon the earth, bless ye the lord,
praise him and magnify him for ever.

in the barren bush, blue jays, plump,
turned round white feathered bellies towards me,
white as baptismal gowns, fruit but for
their legs, not twig brown but black.
o ye fowls of the air, bless ye the lord:
praise him and magnify him for ever.
o ye servants of the lord, bless ye the lord:
praise him and magnify him for ever.

let us bless the lord, father, son and holy ghost:
praise him and magnify him for ever.