Starting Near Day's End

Starting Near Day's End Harold Van Lonkhuyzen (bio) I worry I will die before I learnTo praise God properly, to sing my songAs peepers hymn their joy in sex from ponds,Or ravens pluck their one string in offering:Each creature has its music, as must I.But only some of God's creations surviveTo come into their own, respond to him,And learning how to train one's voice takes time.If I die unachieved, still thwanging, croaking,I hope I can forsake my grief and rageTo trust the Lord, that lover of the turning.Reversal rules the economy of grace.Aren't vineyard laborers, though late to the game,Starting near day's end, still paid the same? [End Page 336] Harold Van Lonkhuyzen Harold Van Lonkhuyzen is a poet and physician living in Rockport, Maine. His writing is shaped by the Maine environment, reflecting the theological and liturgical heritage of the Episcopal Church. Recent work has appeared in The Christian Century. Copyright © 2023 Johns Hopkins University Press