‘At Dawn of Time’: A Poem by Jeff Kemper

At Dawn of Time

—after Genesis 1:1—2:3

At dawn of time God made both heaven and earth.
And as the earth was formless and unfilled
And darkness blanketed the ocean’s girth,
God’s Spirit interceded as he willed
And hovered over all the waters chilled.

“Let there be light,” God said, and light appeared!
God verified that light was good and right.
A rift—the light from dark—he commandeered.
The light he christened “Day,” and darkness, “Night,”
On eve and morn of Day One beaming bright.

“From waters let an opening advance.
Let waters from the waters break away.”
The Heavens then emerged, a grand expanse,
To hold the waters high and low at bay.
The evening and the morning: Second Day.

“From lower waters let the land appear.”
God called the dry land “Earth,” the waters, “Seas.”
It was! And God said, “This is quite good here!”
As earth bore seeds and fruit on plants and trees.
With eve and morn, the Third Day passed with ease.

“Now to illuminate the nascent world,
Let lights appear to mark each day and year.”
God made the two great lights and then unfurled
The stars, to brighten day and render clear
The night, as Day Four’s eve and morn drew near.

“Let waters teem with life and birds fly high.”
God made sea creatures, each after its kind,
And birds of their own kinds to grace the sky.
“Be fruitful, multiply!” Thus God designed.
With eve and morning Day Five was assigned.

“Let creatures, tame and wild, dwell on the land,
Like cattle, creepers, beasts—a varied fleet
After their kinds.” And so it was as planned:
God made each one, delightful and discrete,
And praised their worth, from massive to petite.

God said, “Let us make man; let us ordain
They bear our image—with our likeness dwell.
And over fish and heaven’s fowl they’ll reign,
And over livestock. May their rule excel
On all the earth, all its animals as well.

In God’s own image he created man.
A male and female, thus he made them twain.
God blessed them both, decreed his masterplan:
“Be fruitful! Multiply! The earth you’ll gain,
And over every creature you shall reign!”

God said, “I give you plants of every type
For food, and trees producing fruit with seed
For you and animals of every stripe.
God judged his full creation “good indeed!”
Day Six was done as eve and morn decreed.

When all God’s work was done—his vast array:
The heavens and the earth and all therein—
He rested from it on the Seventh Day.
God blessed and hallowed this, the day wherein
He rested for man’s lordship to begin.

Jeff Kemper has been a biology teacher, biblical studies instructor, editor, and painting contractor. He lives in York County, Pennsylvania.