Friday

Thank goodness
the world continues
to caress the edge of love

even when your chest
nearly bursts
with grief.

And God
is love
and loving us
all the while

waiting for us to look at each other
and nod in respect
for the flower of humanity
that blossoms
purple

like a crocus
breaking through the crust
of the last gray snow.

Simple Prayers

To all the other kneeling women of time,
to these beautiful souls who lifted simple prayers
when all others festered with fear
under the veil of skin and decomposed,

please sing to us now of anointed courage and light
straight as a young arrow to our sorrowful hearts.

Please speak with a true tongue
so that we might convert the unbelievers
to a path of released belief.

Please give us the strength to wait
and to sustain each other with chanting
and glorious silence

so that when we are wise enough to know
that we can roll away the stone ourselves
and confront the darkest places
so many others have known

the task will be as effortless
as flight.