The sky draws near the earth today.
And with it comes a closer sense of you,
until unimpeded,
my prayers pour forth
into your comforting embrace.

The first gasp is painful
made sweet by the realization
that breath has entered me

The darkness shifts
uneasy against my breath

Still hesitant to hope
my soul clings
to the remnants of waiting
until

I am shaken
deeply shaken
and all that will not last
falls away
to reveal that
which will remain

The sound of my own panting fills my ears now
as power wells within
crescendos
I am unimpeded

Light breaks through
surrounds me
with life

I am free.

So I wait
every tiny fragment
every shattered hope
with no way forward
no way out
in darkness
and dust
and ashes
I wait

It is dark -- to be sure
This darkness is heavy
It crushes the breath from my body
and rests on my face
with the weight of thousands of years of evil and hatred
If I opened my mouth
I could taste its bitter selfishness on my tongue

The stillness calms my struggle
until at last
I surrender
and am transformed
to ashes
and dust

Yet this darkness is no less diminished