Praying Out Loud

Father, we praise thee, now the night is over,

Active and watchful, stand we all before thee;

Singing we offer prayer and meditation:

  Thus we adore thee.

                                        Universalis Hymn

     

I wandered through the dead

of night 

as through a deep

thicket,

with twisting thoughts

my pacing strode

into the lawn and beyond,

 into the solitary cardinal’s

scarlet song

unwinding the dim air

from the dark, 

jagged 

cliffs

of leaves;

as if beauty

settled upon the dawn

like

  dew fall, 

holding up the darkness

to the vast, 

damp sparkling

 rolling into morning

like beads of rosaries

circling 

the black night 

echoing--

this praying

out loud

 in fields of 

first 

 light.