​Elijah and the Raven on a Full Stomach, by Bill Stadick

Elijah and the Raven, by Mark Cazalet (UK) 1993. Click image for artist site.

​Elijah and the Raven on a Full Stomach
 
After the AYCE fish fry (battered, tartar-slathered cod,
buttery roll, over-salted fries and dreamy, creamy slaw),
 
I make a first attempt to find the right ekphrasis
for this 1993 Elijah, balding, kneeling, accepting
 
the needful wafer from the straight-outta-Heaven-
or-Hitchcock beak of the raven-du-jour, but all I
 
can manage is silence, silence and space bars
for the better part of a dark night of the soul.

Bill Stadick

Bill Stadick has published poetry in various publications, including Barren Magazine, The Windhover, First Things, The Christian Century, Christianity and Literature and The Cresset. He founded and writes for Page 17, a marketing communications firm.