In an abundant wood
Of Queen Anne’s lace
dried and brown like bamboo,
the ant scurries its way over fallen
bramble and raspberry thorn,
twisted California poppy blooming orange.
As I lay there, intertwined
listening,
I hear an old man
with an ancient smile
in simple language say –
“Every step is a Prayer.” 1Every feather in a wing
every sail set to sea
thread woven as cloth
horn blast in the fog
every step is a Prayer;
each
one hand
holding
Another.Every medicine taken
line and lure cast
ribbon tied in a bow
hand in the collection plate
home run or base hit;
each one
a Prayer.Every blood draw and needle stick
tongue taste of envelope glue,
spatula slipped under bubbling eggs,
tender kiss before going to sleep –
each is a step
a test of faith;
every step is a Prayer.Know each measure of your breath,
the rise and fall
in and out of each moment;
of every step you take.Every step is a Prayer
each
One hand
holding
Another
1. Wallace Blak quoting his granfather, Black Elk
Copyright Mark Hannan 1998
This is beautiful. I would love to hear the “revised” version, although I can’t imagine that adding new energies to this piece would improve it significantly, as so much of its beauty lies in its way of speaking such profound truth in a very simple way. I suppose you could play around with that if you wanted, although personally I think it is lovely as is.