The prophets Hosea and Jonah. Drawing by Raphael.

Hosea

Remain with me. I do not choose you less
For knowing long your wiles and waywardness.

Be rooted with me, planted side by side,
Though blighted fruit and thorns be multiplied.

Rest with me, while the desert wastes increase,
The garden fails, the vine and fig tree cease:

Do not depart, although shame and distress
Strip from you everything save barrenness:

The bitter water sometime may grow sweet,
And mercy flower round these wounded feet.


Thomas Banks teaches online at the House of Humane Letters. His writings have appeared in First Things, Quadrant, the New English Review, the Imaginative Conservative, Crisis Magazine, and various other publications. He lives in North Carolina.


'Hosea' have 2 comments

  1. July 16, 2024 @ 1:59 pm Cynthia Erlandson

    This is truly beautiful. I love the imagery; and the last couplet is especially poignant.

    Reply

  2. July 27, 2024 @ 3:58 pm Bethany Hansen

    This poem is absolutely lovely! Bravo, Mr. Banks!

    Reply


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