From New Poems (2000), "lazarus, first day" Summary

This is the first in a series of poems about Lazarus, who was raised by Jesus from the dead in the New Testament. In this poem about the first day, Lazarus is already moving from the mortal sphere toward "the light"; in this case, a "pin of light", and someone's voice beckoning him away from the mortal world into the next. He moves there along a "river of sound," perhaps floating, perhaps swimming, until he hears another voice, as the scriptures say, "Lazarus, come forth." Instead of leaving this world, Lazarus reverses direction and comes back. When he emerges, he finds himself immersed in the very same sounds that took him away. The singing of Mary and Martha, combined with the voice of Jesus, the sounds that brought him...