In the Wheat ~ Songs in Your Presence
3
9
In our minds
there was no doubt
that You were near.
Can You remember us
cascading down long slopes
and laughing,
knowing that
you were waiting
on the path
down at the water's edge
to catch us?
10.
We were taught
to walk slowly
and sit erect
with hands resting lightly
on our thighs
just behind the knees,
and not one of us
ever thought of asking
why that
had to be.
11.
We never asked ourselves
if we believed
it was You
whom we held
in bread
on our tongues
for those ten
brief moments
of ecstatic oneness.
12
We were told
to live in silence
like seeds have in soil
that we might one day
break through and flower,
but we preferred
our cell-like chapel
where fragrance breathed
from linen and wood
and You
could lure us
with faint scents
of liturgies performed—
so we lingered there
and forgot about
the flowering.
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