March 2018
NOTE: I've been reading some Tracy K. Smith in preparation for her reading at the college where I teach this spring. I also bought my husband Neil DeGrasse Tyson et al's book Welcome to the Universe last Christmas (which he still hasn't read, and I barely understand). I am loving how it forces me to think bigger and more long term, and how it puts our current political... thing... in perspective.
PRAYER
At the edge of the universe,
expanding beyond our mathematical calculations--
white scribbles on chalkboard,
scrolling black numerals on white screens;
beyond the interior universe of the baby--
what’s happening behind her eyes as she,
silent old soul in new skin, tracks you like a satellite;
beyond the disappearance of fathers and mothers
into black absences, still burning hot;
beyond all that light hasn’t yet reached
because it’s not fast enough or the bulb blew out--
there is where prayer lives.
© 2018 Laurel Peterson
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