Boaz Watches Ruth in the Fields
But not in a creepy way
Hello, Beloveds. Poet Jesus here, and we are continuing with our dry, hot, holy-land summer of women’s voices. Today’s poem, technically, is spoken by a dude, but it’s all about Ruth.
As a widow living with her also-widowed mother-in-law, Ruth had to go out and find work to help them survive. She got a job gleaning Boaz’s property, and, well, he liked what he saw. For the rest of this sweet story, go crack open the book of Ruth. It’s only four chapters, slackers.
Take it away, Boaz.
Boaz Watches Ruth in the Fields
There is something holy in the way she bends to the ground and lifts each stalk like a child. Her hair sweeps the soil, trapping chaff in its curls. How her fingers pierce the fields like rays of light! I believe she would glean here forever. Even at sundown, as the harvesters slump beneath the sheaves on their backs she steps lightly to our meal of roasted grain. She sighs deeply with each bite, as if the barley were part of her body, finally reunited with its home of sweet earth and sunlight, ready to smolder and burst into the sky.
First appeared in A Thousand Vessels. Don’t get barley stuck in your teeth over the Amazon link. The original publisher is no longer running.
What a beautiful love poem ❤️
And Bible Project just dropped a great episode on Ruth, which I listened to twice on a long, hot drive.
This story I have always loved, not so much for the tenderness between the women, which is so often focused on, but rather their ingenuity, how they take care of themselves, how Naomi said, "girl, you go lay down in that man's bed tonight." How they gleaned the fields. I like to think that they could barely tolerate each other when they had to leave, just like it is with my mother-in-law. I like to think their closeness came through their difficulties. Such a marvelous old story.