WHEN DAVID CAST THE STONE

 

ROBERT MARGETTS

WHEN DAVID CAST THE STONE

 

Did he behold the words of the prophets,

Inscribed upon the ancient stones

of kingdoms long fallen,

Or the sacred script

Drawn upon the dust

beneath his trembling soiled feet,

Lines wavering in the breath

Of flame and rising soot,

Appointing him to a single moment

Ordained in time.

Did his heart quake

And his knees tremble

As the whisper stirred within his spirit,

Commanding him to rise,

Commanding him to look down,

To take up that particular stone,

Feel it settle in his palm,

Feel the weight

Of the history

it would overturn.

Did his fingers tremble

As he traced the roughness

And the smooth shape

Earth’s own fragment

Chosen for this decisive battle.

Did he wonder Why

his hands were weak and small

And his voice unsteady,

Why the Lord had set His gaze

Upon a poor shepherd boy

Instead of a warrior.

Did he feel the fear rising

at the edges of his courage,

A shadow pressing against the light

That urged him forward.

How could he know

That giants among men

Would be brought low by a single blow.

Did they know they contended with David,

Or did their pride blind them

To the truth

that the smallest

Portion of the earth

Could bear more might

Than all the forged steel

Spears sharpened to slice through armor

As a blade parts softened butter.

Did they fear David,

Or were their hearts too hardened,

Their eyes too clouded,

To discern that a man

bearing a stone

Could stand stronger

Than a giant bearing a spear.

Did David feel the weight of destiny

Pressing upon his chest,

Or did he simply breathe,

And let it go.

Trusting that the God

who shaped the mountains

Could guide the flight

Of a single throw.

Would David throw the stone at me?

The meaning of your poem:  centers on the moment when an ordinary person realizes they are being called to do something extraordinary, and how faith, fear, destiny, and humility collide in that moment.