The Creation
 
He concentrates on the white canvas,
chewing his bottom lip as he ponders,
deciding what will go here
and there.
His hands are motionless,
poised above the rainbow
palette, fingers curved around a clean brush.
He finally blinks and steps forward,
dabbing the brush in the pungent paint.
One quick flourish
leaves a swirl of green on the canvas.
His eyes darken as he loses himself in his creation,
Taking up more paintbrushes,
mixing shades of blue across the green.
His hands move rapidly,
filling the white void.
Feverishly he works,
his face flushing bright red
in contrast to the soothing colors
he uses on the canvas.
 
He is driven now by a need to complete this creation.
He works on through the night, into the next day.
Splashes of yellow streak through the canvas.
Bright colors of fuschia, purple, and blood red
burst into the landscape
as he works on into another day.
Time seems to stand still as he paints,
filling in meticulous details now:
small feathery wisps of canary, azure and scarlet,
tiny fins of silver,
stripes of black and white,
bulky bodies of grey,
tall necks of yellow with chocolate spots,
slithers of green and ebony,
scurries of tan and gray.
He takes a deep breath,
breaking his focus for a moment.
He looks at the one spot that is still blank.
His brows furrow as his mind designs
the last two elements of his creation.
He picks up the palette for the final strokes,
dabbling a clean brush in the paint
and transferring the color to the canvas.
Tones of warm flesh are lovingly suffused to perfection.
He finally stills his hands,
and contemplates his work.
He exhales in satisfaction,
his warm breath touching the two figures,
bringing his creation to life.
A satisfied smile curves his lips
and he lays down his paintbrush.
"It is good."
 
 
 
This poem is based on the Biblical account of the creation story.
 
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void;
and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good,
and God divided the light from the darkness.
And God called the light, Day, and the darkness he called Night.
And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,
and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters
which were under the firmament from the waters
which were above the firmament; and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven.
And the evening and the morrning were the second day.
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven
be gathered together unto one place,
and let the dry land appear; and it was so.
And God called the dry land Earth,
and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas;
and God saw that it was good.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass,
the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind,
whose seed is in itself, upon the earth; and it was so.
And the earth brought forth grass,
and herb yielding seed after his kind,
and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself,
after his kind; and God saw that it was good.
And the evening and the morning were the third day.
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven
to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs,
and for seasons, and for days, and years.
And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens
to give light upon the earth; and it was so.
And God made two great lights;
the greater light to rule the day,
and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also.
And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth.
And to rule over the day and over the night,
and to divide the light from the darkness;
and God saw that it was good.
And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly
the moving creature that hath life,
and fowl that may fly above the earth
in the open firmament of heaven.  And God created great whales,
and every living creature that moveth,
which the waters brought forth abundantly,
after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind,
and God saw that it was good.
And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply,
and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind,
cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind;
and it was so.  And God made the beast of the earth after his kind,
and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth
upon the earth after his kind, and God saw that it was good.
And God said, Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle,
and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."
(Genesis 1:1-26)
"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground,
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and man became a living soul."
(Genesis 2:7)
"So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God created he him,
male and female, created he them.
And God blessed them, and God said unto them,
Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,
and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air,
and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed,
which is upon the face of all the earth,
and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed;
to you it shall be for meat.
And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air,
and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat;
and it was so.
And God saw every thing that he had made,
and, behold,
it was very good.
And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."
(Genesis 1:27-31)
Taken from the Bible, King James Version

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These pages created by Lori Miller, copyright 2004.

Last updated May 24, 2007.