Jonah's Butterfly Poem by Steven Webster

Red rover, rover
Call your body over
From the far side
Out of mind
The bottom of the sea
Well I can't feel for anything
Or anyone
I'm waiting for the hand
Of my God to rescue me
Torn away
The wanting for the city
Of the sun, the wind
The garden of the sand

Babylon
One step short of Avalon
One more breath from here beyond

Out of the frame
Resounds the sound
A whisper or a sign
Sublime
You're watching secretly
God damn it hurts so badly
The firm of terra nova
That I'm waiting for the ground
To open up and swallow me

Babylon
One step short of Avalon
One more breath from here beyond
Like butterflies tumbling
Inventing ourselves in mid-air
We are stumbling toward
You and I are together now forever

Red rover, rover
Start this whole thing over
Cut these
Ties that bind to
The bottom of the sea
Release myself to
Faith in open water
‘cause I'm waiting for my God
Open up and swallow me

Babylon
One step short of Avalon
One more breath from here beyond
Like butterflies tumbling
Inventing ourselves in mid-air
We are stumbling toward
You