Letting Go

This curtain,
white and beautiful,
is my respite;

the quiet swish
of all that pursues
my mind,

makes the thoughts scurry
and rush through the days
and the nights.

I am a woman in thrall
to the promise
of small steps

toward understanding,
the peace of solving puzzles,
and finding

that nothing
can be free
that is offered
with a smile.

Only the bowing act
of prayer
and the curve
of the expanding heart,
or perhaps the dusty foot
on the path,

make it possible
to let go.