The meek shall inherit

ROYAL PALMS



Three storms in a month
And still you stand
Erect shafts against the glowing
Sky. So I bow
To you. During the storms
I saw how your tensile strength
Bent flexibly against
The winds that pushed
Down larger, stiffer trees and
Broke their limbs. You gave up
Fronds and seeds whipped
From your tractability,
But that is all. I imagine that
This is how the meek
Shall inherit, their bending and
Giving before the blows break them –
And their bounding back. The earth
Is yours, O, resilient palm,
Prescient of the supple
Saviors of the earth!

2006

"Royal Palms" was published first in the Ann Arbor Review, 2007;  it was included in the unpublished An Operose Hierodule of the Muse, 2008.
 
"[T]he meek shall inherit" is an allusion to "The Sermon on the Mount."  Historically, meek comes from the same Hebrew root word as reed.  Meek in that sense means "flexible and resilient," not the modern "docile, easily commanded."  Being flexible and resilient have always been the characteristics of winners.
 
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