BY Colleen Keating

like a hound on all fours
the world pounds at my mind
even when I bar it shut
its acrid breath seeps through every crack
with its grabs and flashes and bombardments
it is racing time to the end of time
to its annihilation

yet a whisper   like a cry from a manger
you are more than that

remember
this is your world  you can no longer be ignorant
like a sleeping innocent baby
un-bar your mind
allow the hound to lie down  next to you
its chin on its furry paws
like a lion lies beside the lamb

let your words
be the tiny snow flake
the next one after the 3,741,952 snow flakes
the one that bends the bower

be the difference
the one who writes dangerous words
remember this your rhythm
in the unfolding flower   the unfurl of the frond
be at the edge of the wild place

slow… slow let your body move
to the rhythm of the moon
and the rolling waves
live your life to the seasons
reach out each day
to be The Way