the deepening ground

In looking for a Christmas-themed short story for my AP English Literature class, I came across Art & Theology’s post from November 22, 2022: “25 Poems for Christmas.” What a fantastic collection it is! Of course, their first poem from Wendell Berry’s collection of Sabbath poems remains one of my favorites. I referenced it here last year after reading it on another WordPress page: My Pastoral Ponderings. Today we pause on that pivot from BC to AD. And what I love more than anything else in this poem is the pivot that takes place at that beautiful caesura (hard stop in the middle of a line) found in line five. This was far more than just a “moment when nothing / Happened.” Far more was happening that “[o]nly dull peace / [sprawling] boringly over the earth.” Fanthorpe’s understatement highlights the absolute wonder of this moment on which everything hinges.

BC:AD by U. A. Fanthorpe

This was the moment when Before
Turned into After, and the future's
Uninvented timekeepers presented arms.

This was the moment when nothing
Happened. Only dull peace
Sprawled boringly over the earth.

This was the moment when even energetic Romans
Could find nothing better to do
Than counting heads in remote provinces.

And this was the moment
When a few farm workers and three
Members of an obscure Persian sect
Walked haphazard by starlight straight
Into the kingdom of heaven.