The Upward Fall

The story says fall, and I fall to my knees

onto streets paved with refuse and waste;

breathing fumes of the fuel that the highway consumes

I fall with a gasp to my knees.

 

Underneath paved domain slumbers dust from the stars-

of this I am fashioned and made;

but the ground of my standing is holy, corrupt-

I stumble and fall to my knees.

 

Spirit encumbers the inchoate self,

my body of water and thirst;

the weight of her will to create bends my frame-

strength revealed in the yield of my knees.

 

Myself, spoke by God, my evil and good,

are unknown to me but that I fall;

in hunger I reach far beyond my safe grasp

and I fall into grace on my knees.

From Lifting Women’s Voices: Prayers to Change the World. New York: Morehouse Publishing, 2009.

 

Author: Julia McCray-Goldsmith

Julia McCray-Goldsmith
Julia McCray–Goldsmith is the Episcopal Priest-in-Charge serving Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in San Jose California

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