Artist at Work

the heart breaks, not in half,
but in a hundred thousand tiny pieces,
like glass,
smashed against a hardwood floor
that scatters.

the Master rebuilds, not in haste,
but lovingly and tenderly in time,
like a craftsman,
fashioning a work of art
restoring the shattered fragments of a broken soul.

from shards of glass, radiance!
a brilliant new piece is created,
glistening in the light of early dawn.
a vessel of beauty, Lord-built,
from the splinters of yesterday.

-- Jackie M. Johnson