In Prayer; In the Name of the Trees
'In Prayer' and 'In the Name of the Trees' really stem from the realization that I had not prayed in my mind, out loud, (or whatever form prayer is characteristically thought to be) in years. It came out of a conversation that sparked something in my head when someone I was romantically interested had said, "When I pray, I pray about meeting you," which I originally thought was sweet, but then became troublesome to me. I had completely forgotten about praying in, I suppose, the way I was formally taught to pray. After a few weeks of spotty contemplation I started to wonder, and then feel that most of what I do is a prayer; is in prayer. And that's how I think I prefer it. Not just sitting in a pew once a week on Sunday asking for a laundry list of basic needs, but hugging my mom, kissing my friends on the cheek, picking a dandelion and putting it behind a loved ones ear, honoring my body through movement and flow, honoring others bodies by speaking kind things and feeding them, skipping down the street, feeling the earth on my feet. It is an interesting and wonderful thing to try to live prayers.
In Prayer
My snake is wrapped around my neck
I’m trying to keep her warm
I found her curled up in the cold
A tightly wound and silent form
She wraps her body firmly
In circles round my neck
And it gets difficult in moments
To keep my breath in check
You drove me home tonight
Down the 5 through all that fog
Your foot heavy on the clutch
Playing the song with all that dialogue
And I was curled up like a dog
In the front seat of your truck
In a nervous kind of way
Somehow still star struck
I drape my snake around my neck
She used to be the only one let near
A pair of hands some time ago left rings of bruises
And that special kind of fear
I didn’t mean to trust hands after that
At least till I met you
As breathtaking as I found them
It was too much a taboo
I’d seen and felt their pain
I’d seen and felt their anger
I’d seen and felt their softness
I’d seen and felt their gentle nature
I sat in the front with you
And the song dragged on forever
In that I hoped it'd never end
so, we’d never leave this cozy weather
I absentmindedly put my hand on your thigh
You placed your palm face up between us two
So I held your hand in prayer
And caught your eyes in the rearview
You make me mad sometimes
As I’m sure I do to you
I hurt your feelings and you hurt mine
But that’s not a problem,
Because we always work it through
Your great big arms
Could wrap twice around the earth
So when they hold me close and tight
It makes me feel my worth
I could live there
Build a little dwelling!
Because you touch me with nothing but
passion, care, and loving
You touch my neck with fingertips
But really, it’s all of you there
And when you give me a hand up off the ground
My smile’s so damn big with care
You’re driving me home tonight
Down the 5 through all this fog
Your foot heavy on the pedal
I’m laughing at your joke, curled up just like a dog
I’m home sitting with my snake
another song added to the queue
I sit with her wrapped up around my neck
Just wishing it were you
In the Name of the Trees
in the name of the roots,
the trees,
and the air that you wear (that whips through your hair),
I wonder if you feel it through you
from the skin that reigns
over miles of veins
to the way that you say
to the way that you pray
my name under overcast skies,
from the three dark strands
that I hold in my hands
I weave over and around
up and then down
and then... and then I remember to breathe
from fingers to toes
I hold your name close
and my jaw finally unlocks
‘cause its unorthodox
and I doze off in the heat of my sheets.
so, in the name of the roots,
in the name of the trees,
and the air that you wear (though it tears through your hair),
I wonder if you feel it too.
