the day after death
the day before life
a liturgy
of silence
under the rubric
O my God why
are you forsaken
emptied out
exhausted in grace
body stops
gravity
& relaxes against
whatever is between it
& the earth's
compelling center
clouds coming together
promise a shower
this evening
the air is still
the clouds fade
into haze
at the horizon
my spine measures
the torsion
of my soul
warped by fears
I do not name
images come
together
storm clouds fading
into dust
blood floods out
from heart
to head & foot
ebbs back
to center
after one thousand
nine hundred
and some Easters
the fact remains
the day before Easter
sitting exhausted
I count clouds & sounds
rest in silence within
await the shower
still held
in the dark & massive sky
after every
lying down,
a rising
after every
shutting up,
an opening
after every
exhalation of stale air,
an inrush
of new breath
after every
dying,
a new waking through the surface
into light
Eugene Warren was on the editorial staff at Sojourners when this article appeared.
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