Breastplate
With this breastplate
forged in the fires of tangible Hell,
I will go forward, doling out
gifts that God entrusted me with,
feeding sparrows, starlings and squirrels.
I will command my days with a mature discipline,
more so tied to the wind in a place of freedom,
boundaries set by my soul.
Everyday I will eat and be grateful.
I will leave my licence plate in the gutter,
travel light like I did when I was younger,
one knapsack for years – live in this home
but claim no possessions. I will listen,
pitch my tent in any wood
as long as the birds guide me there,
and I will keep myself breathing,
full of breath –
active, on watch.
I will love, love like I do
with a personal intensity
the ones that feed me with their love,
keep me in grace and breakdown the shadows.
With this breastplate I will go,
for I know how evil consumes
in small amounts with small yeses,
small indulgences that grow into
a vast hole.
I will wear sandals in the summer,
a jacket in the winter and this breastplate,
now grafted to my skin,
willfully dreaming this journey forward,
surfacing uninhabited shores.
Copyright © 2020 by Allison Grayhurst
amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst
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First published in “BlogNostics” October 2020
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You can listen to the poem by clicking below:
