"Trying to Pray" by Twyla M. Hansen

"Cookmaid With Still Life of Vegetables and Fruit" Sir Nathaniel Bacon (1585 - 1627)

With my arms raised in a vee,

I gather the heavens and bring

my hands down slow together,

press palms and bow my head.

I try to forget the suffering,

the wars, the ravage of land

that threatens songbirds,

butterflies, and pollinators.

The ghosts of their wings flutter

past my closed eyes as I breathe

the spirit of seasons, the stirrings

in soil, trees moving with sap.

With my third eye, I conjure

the red fox, its healthy tail, recount

the good of this world, the farmer

tending her tomatoes, the beans

dazzled green al dente in butter,

salt and pepper, cows munching

on grass. The orb of sun-gold

from which all bounty flows.

"Trying to Pray" by Twyla M. Hansen from Rock. Tree. Bird. © The Backwaters Press, 2017.