I Am a Seed and Other Poems

by Julia McMullen

I AM A SEED

God’s breath is the wind,

and to dust I return, to bloom.

So bloom I do, in soil tended

by a gardener with gentle hands

that prune, graft, and offer water

from a cool spring—

hands that hold the wildflowers

in equal measure with cultivated lilies

and roses.

My heart beats—its roots sprawled,

clasping, taking away from dust,

giving up sweet oxygen—

that heady garden scent, breath

from earthen burial ground.

Oh, blessed meadow!

I am the seed sprung up from you,

tender stalks so green and new and wild,

swaying in the breath of God.

FREEDOM

This must be what a fish feels,

suddenly emerging from water,

never having known the dryness of air,

the harsh warmth of the sun.

I gasp for breath under open night sky,

the glow of the moon’s borrowed light

too warm, too bright.

Stars litter my eyes

as I gaze heavenward,

regarding infinity with powerful longing.

I blink and breathe cool night air,

suddenly full of life.

This is not a cheerful moment.

The wind that smells of trees and grass

makes me feel naked, and the story of the earth

feels near and alive and moving, I fear.

Yet something in the sky holds me captive.

The stars, which feel, to me, both close and far,

whisper to my being of a God whose love

is near as the trees and vast as the dark,

so I let my eyes drink in the beauty,

and wait to see the sun.

JULIA MCMULLEN

Julia McMullen is a writer living in Nebraska with her husband and two young children. She enjoys baking, singing, and spending time in nature when she is not writing.

You can connect with Julia at juliamcmullen.substack.com or through Instagram @whooo.lia.