Unremarkable Angels

A Poem of Light by Anna Elkins,

<MichelleCowles, LoveisDivine>

Oct 12, 2024

The Remarkables, New Zealand

After a long morning of hiking and getting lost,

I walked to the pebbled edge of the lake to wash my feet.

When I looked up, a toddler with a smile of pure

and fearless joy was running up to me. He stopped

short, bent down to select a stone, and handed it to me,

his face full of a hope so bold it was a knowing—

that I’d think his gift as rich as gems. I smiled back.

Like he had bowed to choose his gift, I bowed to accept it.

I held the stone in my open palm to give it proper honor,

loving not just the gift but how it came after the thought

to give. He’d approached me empty-handed, found

what he needed just when he needed it—nothing

planned or stockpiled, as would be my way.

I said, Thank you, and put the stone in my pocket.

He ran back to his father, mother, sister.

A beauty suffused the whole family. Maybe

they were angels. Maybe we all take turns playing

angel. Maybe I did earlier, for another child

who’d come running down the mountain, crying,

Can you help me? I’m lost! So we all are, so often.

And then we’re found—someone appears, leads us

back up the path or offers us a talisman of praise.

and once again, we’re good enough for now.

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Shared with permission and thanks to Anna Elkins.

Anna Elkins ’ latest poetry collection, Hope of Stones, won an Oregon Book Award and this poem appeared in Christian Century.

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“Maybe we all take turns playing angels”

I hope you enjoy this poem as much as I do! I see us in the metaphor of pebbles being bumped and smoothed by the water and each other. Individuals yet a collective, having forgotten that we are enough as we are and being blessed to be reminded of it when we need it.

Love is Divine, with Michelle Cowles

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