If I am to do nothing, let me do it gallantly

I don't know the name of this

flower, last night's moon, the cloud

formations and what they mean.

I don't know the bird balancing

the wire with an urgent demand for

something I can't understand, but

I know the words bearing few

letters and too much weight:

hurry and wait, hold and grace

On these long days

I circle the room for answers

to questions not yet formed.

I don't know what to ask

of god, self, love, the world.

If this were someone else's story

an answer would arrive

in a piano that plays a single

long note, or in a small bird with

an insistent voice, calling

as I tuck myself into a

nest of unknowing where I

find a comfort that was

here and hidden all along.

— Drew Myron

Note: Title is a line borrowed from the Book of Common Prayer:

Make me ready, Lord, for whatever it may be.

If I am to stand up, help me to stand bravely.

If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly.

If I am to lie low, help me to do it patiently.

And if I am to do nothing, let me do it gallantly.

* * *

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