A Deeper Baptism 🡮 Chris McClelland 🡯

We see space above at night,
And nothing holds us back from engulfing it
Deep blue meridians, violet deeper still,
Keep looking.
The stars unrelenting, charging you,
Multiply themselves in the black empty spaces in billions
The longer you gaze.

Give me a voice, oh Heavenly Father,
Give my words deeper meanings than I can devise.
With my surface self
And take me to the Jordan to baptize me in shades of murky
Confused metaphor and meaning
And let me float down gently like an Ophelia
Caught in weeds and her drowning white netted gown,
Pulled under by grief and madness.
Much like my love in the poem she sent when she was driven insane
By the continent of miles that separated us.

Lord Jesus, protect me from madness,
Grant me refuge when my mind no longer holds its center
Keep me intact and not tactless
As I struggle to survive this thing called life.

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Chris McClelland holds a BA and an MA in English from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. His writing has appeared in Narrative Magazine, Harper’s, Puerto Del Sol, SwimSwam, Irreantum, and Mid-American Review, among others. His novel, In Love and War, was published independently to positive reviews. He has also published Under Old Glory, a YA novella. Contrition, his next novel, is due out later this year. He currently lives in Orem, Utah, with his wife and two sons.

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