seven solemn epiphanies: for the flood

Herman Sutter

September 7, 2025

What has the rain wrought

with all its wealth

melting like wings in the sun

the rain is endless

let it come

a shadow shifts beneath the water’s drift, 

clings to a branch--lets go

edgeless –the water becomes all shadow

the rain is endless

let it come

impenitent as silver 

and silent as light 

the surface recalls the clouds one by one

the rain is endless

let it come

the wetness washes over all

the grass the earth the ants 

gathering in clusters of shimmering earth

the rain is endless 

let it come

floating upon a fallen leaf

a beetle glistening --wings melting

like wax in the sun

the rain is endless

let it come

to the cat clinging

to the tree and the cat

below twisting helplessly 

the rain is endless

let it come

the old man strikes a match

and lifts the darkness to the night

fading like the sun

the rain is endless

let it come

Herman Sutter is the author of Stations (Wiseblood Books), and The World Before Grace (Wings Press), and “The Sorrowful Mystery of Racism,” St. Anthony Messenger. His work appears in: The Perch (Yale University), The Langdon Review, Benedict XVI Institute, Touchstone, i.e., The Merton Journal, as well as: Texas Poetry Calendar (2021) & By the Light of a Neon Moon (Madville Press, 2019). He received the 2021 Best Essay award from the CMA. His recent manuscript A Theology of Need was long listed for the Sexton prize.