West’s Gold Arch, Where the Risen Christ Is Claimed by Cloud and Light

Dedicated to my Mom and to the university our family loves, Bob Jones University!

A note from the poet

Dear Reader,

I grew up on the campus of Bob Jones University. Recently my beloved mother passed on September 3, my father’s birthday. Her funeral was held in the War Memorial Chapel. Her casket, covered with pink and white roses, sat beneath this canvas.

She taught speech and drama at Bob Jones University for fifty-four years. She and my father, and this university, influenced thousands—including me and my twin brother.

I dedicate this poem to my Mom and to the university our family loves. I wanted to write what the painting has always said to me: that one day we will all ascend to Jesus, whether by death or by the rapture.

—The Poet

An ekphrastic poem

Gold frames the arch where Christ begins to rise;

His garment pale against the clouded skies.

The seraphs crowd the brightness he has won;

Their lifted arms complete the burst of sun.

Below, the air is amber, rose, and stone;

A swirl of faces turns toward him alone.

One kneels; one reaches; none can hold that height;

They watch the shining figure leave their sight.

The opened heaven claims him from their gaze—

A king in triumph, crowned in living blaze.

**To God be the glory always and only.