paisleypiper's Diaryland Diary

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prayer from a peak at the valley

Prayer from atop this Craggy Mountain

Don�t let me roll down, tumbling arm over arm
smashing myself into the ground. Don�t let me roll down
skidding headfirst, scraping my back, bruising my spine,
watching the sky as dusty as dirt beneath me, as unknowable
as naivety. Don�t let me roll down, grabbing at roots
and rocks that jut up out of the scrub, grabbing
at what jabs me for help. This fall is not a playful decent
down some knoll, the game of children. No soft sweet grass
cushions my body. The path I walk wears thin,
the ground exposes its thin weave of roots and clay. It pulls apart
beneath me. I begin to roll, to spread out my weight,
to keep from breaking through but I don�t know whether
I will ever stop, once I begin. A snowball rolls down
a mountain, a tumbleweed rolls over the desert.
They get bigger the longer they roll. I am not that way.
I can be beaten thin, coveted for my insides exposed
and rubbed raw, like polished rocks at a souvenir stand.
I can be beaten away. It�s small up here. My world is small.
Don�t let me roll down not knowing where I am going.
Don�t let me roll down changing my plan with each jab
of a root or rock. Don't let me roll down to escape
uncertainty. Help me plant myself in the sun and grow.

10:31 p.m. - 2003-06-30

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