A Transfiguration Sonnet Feat. Bliss Spillar

After Matthew 17:1-9

Photo by Ilia Bronskiy on Unsplash

Light for the Descent by Bliss Spillar
A sonnet for Transfiguration Sunday

Up the high slope where breath and silence meet,
He leads three friends into the thinning air.
No thunder first, no trumpet at their feet,
Just borrowed quiet, ordinary prayer.

And then His face, familiar as their own,
Turns luminous with uncreated flame.
The law and prophets stand beside the Son,
As cloud and voice pronounce the Holy Name.

Beloved. Listen. Fear dissolves in light.
They fall, undone by glory’s sudden blaze.
But glory will not let them stay in sight
Of brightness kept in carefully built praise.

They must descend where broken bodies cry,
For light is love that learns at last to die.

And here, around the table, we are fed
With that same light now hidden under bread.

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This is a moving sonnet, and the more I read it, the more I discover new depths of meaning. Thank you, Bliss, for sharing these lines with us.

Share in the comments section how this sonnet speaks to you.