Because you are at that place in the road
to know what's coming, and laughter is dead,
even as you breathe in and out. This
Be awake. Sing. Hold a moderate pace.
-- from Mary Bradish O'Connor's section Bones and Ash
where demons rear up as you cross the bridge
and water's too high to ford with your load
of worries, and you can't see over the hedge
I give you these phylactery words to say:
You are alive and in the river, led
by grace and mysterious currents. Pray
is the hour. And you agreed to be here.
You are not drowning but living in bliss,
moving forward toward light earned with your tears.
And try not to step out ahead of grace.