Challenge from author Crag Hill: Write a Golden Shovel Poem today.
My Golden Shovel poem is taken from Mary Oliver’s poem The Poet Thinks About the Donkey, from Thirst (2006) and Devotions (2017)
Line:
On the outskirts of Jerusalem, the donkey waited.
Trailblazer
and after the Last Supper, they went on
to the Garden of Gethsemane, the
agonizing prayer of one man on the outskirts
of Earth, Heaven-bound, the saltiness of
His tears of sacrificial love for all of Jerusalem
-all of the world- the cross gazing vertically, its arms the
horizontal hug of grace preserved on the back of a trailblazing donkey,
the blessed first leg of a transformational journey as sinners waited
At Christmas, I wrote this one:
Challenge from Glenda Funk: Write a Golden Shovel Poem by taking a line from a favorite poem and letting each word of the line be the last word in the lines of the poem you create.
“An Incident in Bethlehem”
From “Incident” by Natasha Trethewey
(Taken From Native Guard, winner of the Pulitzer Prize)
Line: At the cross, trussed like a Christmas tree, a few men gathered
In a lowly stable in Bethlehem, Mary gazes with pride AT
her sweet little baby, sent to save THE
souls of sinners; in the 33-year shadow of the CROSS,
the shepherds and sheep admire Jesus in a TRUSSED
manger, crib legs that would someday stand LIKE
intersecting compass points needling Heaven and Earth, A
lasting symbol of the reason we celebrate CHRISTMAS,
The hope held in these trees – the manger, the cross, the Christmas TREE–
offers both the blessings of this life and the promise of A
more glorious one in heaven, where more than a FEW
will reflect on the Nativity sets we once admired, with wise MEN
and angels, and pray this is where we will all be eternally GATHERED.
– Kim Johnson
Common Threads 
My poem today was inspired by Shakespeare in his line, “The readiness is all!” from Hamlet.
READY
Ready is to revival as
Eager is to experience as
Able is to adventure as
Doing is to destiny as
Yearning is to you