Novena

I have prayed
for nine straight days
and even longer
on the way down
the steepest paths
paved with glass

My skin did all it could
and worked a shard
from the sole of my foot--
a diamond glittering
from the flesh
ready for harvest.

Fear not.

Pray for indifference
when the cruel sliver slips out

a drop of blood, red and sticky,
cleaning the wound that has opened
with each step toward freedom.

It is an exhausting relief
to breathe into this birth
knowing the pain
wasn't all in your imagination.

Repeat after me.