This rare mingling

This rare mingling                                                                     

From a child’s downed back

sprouted wings of loneliness –

propelling me, through a lifetime

          of distances,

randomly and erratically, to You.

Your stone brought me down –

wrestling like Jacob with the angel;

   

feathers dirtied, wine-stained;

collapsed upon the tavern floor.

 

Fiercely embracing You,

loneliness fled in a wash of tears.

After much doting and fussing –

my Companion whispered, 

“Drink deeply this rare mingling of dust and wine.

Drink to honor your loneliness .... 

It has led you to the threshold of God.” 

O child of God, existence was built upon

the loneliness of the One without a second.

                        (from A Jewel in the Dust)