“Fulfilled” (Psalm 1)

What is fulfillment? I was recently reminded of this poem—the first thing I ever posted on this site, and probably my favorite of all the poems I have written. It is my attempt to delve into Psalm 1.

This poem is part of the “Psalter Project” I started with my sister, Lindsay Feldmeth Westra, back in 2012. We were creating our own poems reflecting on (sometimes paraphrasing) each psalm in order. She wrote the even numbered psalms, and I wrote the odds. You can see several more of our psalms here.

“Fulfilled” (Psalm 1)

Fulfilled, replete, at ease in your own skin
Comes with the company you keep, and when
You will not walk with whining, vicious voices,
You won’t stand still with habits, viscous vices,
And you won’t sit and sneer, then you’ll be there

Where you will trace God’s tracks with gentle care
Replay God’s plans and laugh God’s laughs and share
Your sleep with such an unsuspected spouse
And wake to find his whisper in your mouth

Then you will leaf out, lovely, like a tree
From mulch to twig, substantial, solid, sure
Tuck your toes in sod, as seasons plod
Spread and stretch and sprout and swell with fruit

But other people, those who won’t want God,
Will drift and fade and wander in the cold
Shrivel, shrink, and wither, thin and sad,
With fraying threads of branches, fetal trunks

When time cracks open and we go to God
Transplanted off this page into the woods
Your roots will cling, your lungs fill, you will stand!
But they will blur and fade and never breathe
Not filled up. Never filled full.