Traveling Mercies

"Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and puts their trust in the One who sent me has ever lasting life. They will not be guilty. They have already passed from death into life." John 5:24

I step out before dawn turquoise light
sparkling from a concrete Indian I am
constantly on the move and rarely
in the dark sleek damp woods
and often in the weeds caught in brambles thorns
snag my heart and I ache for home.

There is no sagging green arbor no
welcome song, no round dance no
shawls swishing like tall grass in soft breezes,
only announcements interrupting plastic seats
stiff sticky floors uniformed representatives,
I could get arrested for dreaming of firelight.

I travel on with wings and wheels
a daughter of the red earth blue sky trapped
in a noisy terminal with life flashing by.

We are not alone despite the dislocation aching
joints, hard shoes and frozen pavement.

The one who bent the rainbow made me and brought me
to this century, this location to make home
for all the lost and broken travelers
the little children reaching up
for a guiding hand.

Reach up now little one the day begins grateful
and light thickens rushing the dark away
to corners where the shadows wait but not for us.

Reach up and know that the Creator speaks soft words
of safe travel and a large lodge where you are
welcome food is cooking, voices are singing
the round dance tapping feet and turning smiling bodies has begun.