‘God Definition’ a poem by Ana Lisa de Jong

Photo credit: Ana Lisa de Jong

God Definition

This is what arrives when reading Refresh Journal of Contemplative Spirituality on the Sacred Feminine at end of day! ~ July 24

And in the shadows of the night
God comes defined,
clear as a sentinel tree on a hill.
How I could not count her branches
until they were backlit by dusk,
until she, dark and stark,
were perceived by her tracery.

The intricacy of leaf and branch,
a pattern discerned.
Her outline, like our frame,
a shape understood.
How God arrives regaled
in answer to our need -

now feminine, now masculine,
inanimate, animal.
Clad in flora and fauna,
or the skin of a friend,
or the resemblence of a love
that first brought us joy.

Ana Lisa de Jong
Living Tree Poetry
July 2025

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Ana Lisa de Jong is a contemplative poet and author, whose evocative, spiritually charged poetry is born of the flora and fauna and unique landscapes of Aotearoa. With a strong Christian faith heritage woven with Celtic and Maori whakapapa, Ana Lisa responds to the natural world as God breathed and with a story to tell, which she seeks to weave into her words. Visit Ana Lisa on Facebook and at livingtreepoetry.com..