An Untarnished Miracle

Inspired by C.S. Lewis’ Perelandra, Chapter 3

A foreign, perfect world with fresh, new life
First, I arrived naked in a casket 
That suddenly dissolved in the presence
Of this emerald green sea and burning gold sky
It was a rebirth yet part of me seemed to die

I felt haunted by the absence of guilt
Something so foreign it had to be wrong
Birthed into water, a vast waste of waves
Only the far “Fixed Land” lay beyond the wonders
Then, I heard a resonate, unearthly thunder

This planet of love, a maternal world
With many oceanic mountain peaks
Pulling and guiding me up their ridges
Delicately gorgeous, muted iridescence
A riot of colors in the vast ambience

This golden roof above floating islands
Beholding heather-like vegetation
Blessed relaxation yet much to grasp
Then, learning to walk again in this moving place
But to fall is such a sweet and pleasant embrace

Then, exploring the archipelago 
The ineffable taste of foreign fruit
Woods full of yellow globes hanging from trees
It was a pleasure so intense and spiritual
To taste it again would tarnish this miracle

Vol. 99 of The Ivy Leaves Journal for Literature and Art published an exert of this poem.