Faith Hope & Fiction

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This Graceful Call

Two Poems by Sarah Law at Faith Hope and Fiction

Two Poems
By Sarah Law

Early Morning in the Shrine Gardens

They are secretly pleased, the bees,

at this summertime emptiness; 

the lavender expands her hands

and bumbles kiss each finger– 

a pollen communion. Mist enacts

a hazy censing, and the grass

distils last night’s orisons as

a scattering of pearls. A starling’s

well-versed in her canticle: 

wood pigeons murmur responses.

Rising sunlight gives the blessing – 

there is honey to be made.

Poetry, Essays, Art

Norton’s Café 

I came to rather love you – 

your quiet all-day litany of chatter,

never offensive, nor overly formal,

round tables easily shared, avoiding

the rigid rows of canteen meals – no,

Norton’s asks no questions, offers

baked potatoes, sandwiches, 

indulgent cakes and strong black coffee,

and anyone can visit – oddly-dressed, transient, the day’s handwritten specials,

all blessed by Norfolk sunlight.

I have spent summer evenings here,

with journal and a glass of wine,

weary, sketching myself into some 

sort of comfort. Then there was that time

when a woman dropped her cartons

of farm-shop soup, and the waiting staff

helped her so kindly, mopping 

the accident away – as though it were

their pleasure to serve her, as though

this was the reason they were there

– this graceful call to prayer. 


Sarah Law—poet, tutor, occasional critic, and sometime fiction writer—is the Editor-in-Chief of Amethyst Review. She has published five poetry collections, with a sixth, Thérèse: Poems forthcoming from Paraclete Press. Her pamphlet, My Converted Father, is available from Broken Sleep Books. Recent work is published in Saint Katherine Review, The Windhover, Psaltery & Lyre; Amaryllis, Stride; Ink, Sweat & Tears; Soul-Lit; Riggwelter and others. Follow her on Twitter @drsarahlaw

Image Credit: Patricia

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