The Common Good
March 2008

Prayer of the Iris

by Carol Tyx | March 2008


Like the iris

in the side yard,

I have stopped blooming.

Dig me up, O Spirit,

and split me; where I have grown

calloused, ...

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Like the iris
in the side yard,
I have stopped blooming.
Dig me up, O Spirit,
and split me; where I have grown
calloused, break me open;
then drive me deeper
into darkness,
where I wait for you
to pull my yearning
to live fully
into the light;
then let me offer
my purple and gold freely
to all who pass by.

Carol Tyx teaches American literature at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
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