Earthworm Lore
In the lore of the nightcrawler and red wriggler,
it’s said that, when Jesus knelt and wrote in the dust,
their progenitors saw it from below
(saw it, though they had no eyes!)—
two vertical lines for the tree of life, and two
along the bottom for the river of life.`
As He wrote, they saw those lines also engraved
on the wide palm of His hand, framing the names
He’d made and blessed, billions of us, written
in vanishingly small
nanoscale, miraculously legible
letters. And some say, on a golden wall
of the Holy of Holies in heaven are two
upright lines, the trees of wisdom and life;
two horizontal, for the waters we drink
from once and never again thirst;
and squiggly lines for the Annelida
underfoot: these least that shall be first.
And they say Jesus saw the little worms
and promised: You will enrich the soil of Zion
and restore the loam of Eden. When My hands
that rolled you from clay and mud
are pierced, you will see the fount of red
composting death with vivifying blood.
This piece was published in 2023 as part of the 12th Annual Mormon Lit Blitz by the Mormon Lit Lab. Sign up for our newsletter for future updates.