Woman at the Well

A Lenten Poem after John 4:5-42

Photo by Tracy Jentzsch on Unsplash

---

Woman at the Well by Kassi Wilson
After John 4:5-42

Every day she covers her
face from the bright sun and lugs
empty canisters to Jacob’s well. 

The noonday heat makes her
body wither inside with a deep 
unquenchable thirst. 

This is her lot in life. Fetching
water only to return the next day
to fetch all over again. 

On the outside she appears  
to be a plain old woman 
carrying out a daily task. And yet—

Know one can see that her heart  
burns for salvation. Daily 
she is searching for answers.  

She reaches the stone well as
the crowds disperse. In a moment 
it’s suddenly still and very quiet. 

A man sits down beside her and asks 
for a drink. She’s taken back. Jews 
do not associate with Samaritans 
(especially a Samaritan woman). 

But the Jew speaking with her is not  
an ordinary man. While they converse
together a divine meeting transpires. 

He recounts her deepest secrets. 
The longing she held inside.  
That day she didn’t fill canisters. 
She left with living water. 

---

I am so thankful to share Kassi Wilson’s poem this week. What part of this poem captivates you? Where are you seeing something new from, perhaps, an account that you know well?

The unfiltered depiction of sheer humanity within this poem brought my mind to two things. On one hand, the deep spiritual need for living water—a strong and sustaining connection between one’s being and the Triune God. On the other hand, the very real reality is that many people around the world still lack access to water. In many places, simply obtaining water poses enormous barriers to pursuing dreams, education, and daily life.

I know, you’re thinking, “Drew, why, after reading a poem based on an ancient account in the New Testament, are you now talking about the hardships of people without proper access to water?” I don’t plan these things. Poetry, scripture, anything that touches something within me yields surprising results. As I read the lines of Kassi’s poem, this is what rose to the surface, but that doesn’t mean my ruminations are any more valuable—I just get to share them.

But if you are curious about the obscene difficulties of collecting water in many parts of the world (that honestly look the same as the woman at the well’s chore from John 4, only two thousand years later) I would highly recommend learning more about the global water crisis through the work of Water.org (there are certainly other organizations doing this work as well) and considering what you or your community might do to support those in need. Kassi’s reference to “canisters” echoes, to me, the objects used by many who carry water in jerry cans or repurposed plastic containers to provide for themselves and their households.