Sanctuary in the Known World

If you must talk,
speak only of God here.
Save your idle, neurotic chatter
for the city and its pavement.

Here is where the heart resides;
it doesn’t need a declaration,
and has no urge to prove itself.

So, let the stream babble for once.
Let the Jays tell you something.
Let this vast quietude pound
against the stony gates of
your being.

Then, let those creatures
in—wild and present and
ever gracious with stories and
lessons, with sylvan blessings.

No need for you to shout or gesture;
they know you’re here.
They know you’re here.

--Cindy St. Onge
March 12, 2006