Statement of Faith: A Poem

STATEMENT OF FAITH


The prayers are finished

and I am furious

at the joy I have missed

at the hiddenness of good things.

They send slight signals

through the weary weather

and layers of the day,

and my arms feel for glorious sky.

Blessings erupt in my mouth

and songs sing in my inner chambers.

I will celebrate somehow.

I will put myself on the line.

I will offer my shoulder to the burden.

I will walk in one direction

and when at rest lie cradled in its vision.

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I will wail my longings loudly.

I will recite triumphant stories.

I will hope until something happens.

I will sing into the sorrowful void.

I will take the dark and quivering chance of love.

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I will keep my palms open.

I will believe in the last, good word.

I will plow through earth and blood

and, finally, expose the glistening veins of truth.

I will be afraid for all the right reasons

and allow good anger to change me.

I will remember every place in which

the light has kissed me.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ © 1996 Vinita Hampton Wright. All rights reserved


And every shard of grace or pleasure

will be a weapon in my pocket.

And the brightness of my believing

will pierce the eye of the evil one.

I will learn the names of God

and pronounce them aloud in every place.

Their tones will crumble heavy mountains

and clear the tangled paths

and open worlds to twinkle in the blackness.

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And the saints shall wave at me an exuberant affirmation

that flutters ghostlike across the chasm.

And my accusers will run out of words

because my hope and my hunger outlived them.

And I will plant my hands upon the coat hem of God

and be battered by the dragging

but the end will find me there.

I will not stop.

I will not stop looking

for the fulfillment of promises.

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And the power will come down

and it will not destroy me

because I saw it coming.

And the love will emerge

and I will recognize it.

And the peace will arrive

and it will find its home in me.
—Vinita Hampton Wright, 1996