I will walk
the walls and fences
once and five more times
and seven times again
and shout
unseeing, but walking still
expectant of tumbling stone
and victory
and when the walls are ruins
the fences mangled mesh
I will share your win
for my part
the city, your gift to me
and then inside again
abide
and walk I will
by your command
and for my brothers
each evening
and every morning
You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess. Deuteronomy 5:33
image: Medieval Walled City, painting by Micko-Vic
SILVER PENNIES 
Sweet girl Emily, I cannot tell you how meaningful this poem is to me! “Once and five more times and seven times again” — you have given us such a lyrical presentation of a long and difficult time of waiting — the recounting of dogged faithfulness when all is not going well with you (Deuteronomy’s promise notwithstanding) — and yet with the determination to continue to trust and wait, believing that the Lord is faithful to you and your brothers and sisters (I count myself as one) — oh, it is not easy. But we have a model: Christ, who endured the cross (why?) for the sake of the JOY set before him! May the Lord bless you, Emily, with joy, “each evening and every morning.”
Rebecca – THANK YOU for this thoughtful and encouraging comment. Lifted my heart!!
I have read Jericho Vow again and again all day and still do not have the words to say how stirred I am by this poem. Em, unbelievable.
Em, thought provoking and real. Truly the Lord has gifted you. Thank you for sharing this gift and for making me freeze time a bit to ponder.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS!
I , too will walk those walls
…yes, I will…thank you, Emily, for this stirring call to perseverance in ‘seeing the unseen’.