As the Sun Set Gold

As the sun set gold on the first day

of the new year

he climbed to the mountaintop

seeking a place

as thin as the shell of a bird's egg

where he could pray to the

small hobgoblins and great minds

of the heroes of inconsistency -

those trail-less wanderers blazing

New Paths

that great cloud of witnesses

and he waited and

held court in hushed reverence and

prayed in tongues of wood and spirit

The wild birds were the first to show

singing the most ancient psalms

Then, Uncle Ralph rose from the grave

and began drumming

thum thum thum

on the side of a hollow log

a song of unsettled hope

Sister Rachel joined in song

an untiring song of beauty

and mystery

The Healer, King

rose up, too,

and preached a sermon,

saying that darkness can't drive out darkness

and then the sun set

and we all held hands

and prayed onward into the night,

confident that the next day would come

and that

in the meantime

we had each other.