10 August 2010 | Vol. 10, No. 2

Blessing for the Middle of the Night

by MARGARET MK HESS

May you live long under our beds and in our closets,

in our washing machines and our quiet showers.

We undress for you like no one else.

May you breathe across me as I learn to sit with you,

as I learn to be patient with your darkness,

as I cry out against you and hear my own sound loud and then

swallowed by you, as you swallow everything, as I follow my sound

and travel down inside of you. May you hold me gently

until I am still and accepting, until I find space in your immensity.

May you leave. May you come back again.