Prayer

That when scary things find you,
they will be very tiny.

When you see a baby bird that
has fallen from its nest
you try to help
but you understand
that freedom and love
visit wild places
and their breadth and depth
can even encompass them
if you will let go very deeply.

That you rejoice
in sun-warmed land
and your body brings you
the strength of terns, monarchs,
and starlight;
The body that feels the rain,
that finds shelter,
that finds the body of its one true love.

That you find the ecstasy of being one
with the breath or a stone or with sound,
and that you find a way to stay there
through ecstasy even to the end
of all that is made in wandering.

That when you reach a sea of glass
you will not be alone.
That if you must go,
you have one last sunset
to say goodbye.

And when you finally decide not to return,
you send your spirit
to those who do not pray.