Invisible hands

Invisible hands

Rather than the lay of the land, weary traveler,
study the fair plains and valleys of your Beloved's face.

Lift like the hawk above adverse terrain,
upheld and guided by invisible hands.

This dark cell where you've been locked away -
who's to say it is not some long-forgotten holy shrine?

Like milk from the breast or honey from the comb -
why do I ever tarry outside my Beloved's house?

Words gather at my tongue and fingertips
but which ones contain my heart's blood?

I long for poetry with Your hands in it;
wordless gestures like the flight of birds.

O child of God, thank Him for His companionship -
the silence and poetry now within your chest.

                                 (from The Garden of Surrender, 2004)