revelation readiness

a beautiful day, i couldn’t settle
so i wandered outside and found
old trees, the dead, and a peace garden

this site was part of the battle of the brandywine
americans and british, the unknown, and a marquis
long ago buried here, their lives over
the war long since past, a silent reminder
of the temporary nature of this world

as i hug the trees and mosey among those
whose feet no longer walk the earth,
(but whose headstones
impede the walking of the living)
i recognize the space, the land
which no longer brings life
yet renders fallow the garden
by perpetuating the past
indefinitely into the future

i find a tree to climb
and sit in reverence
a quite place to cultivate
revelation readiness

this world will change through me
no other means can change it
yet i know not, what anything is for

so i relinquish my life
here i am Lord
offering these remaining
breaths, days, months, years
to the Holy One
a symbolic crucifixion
a journey i do not have to take
in order to join in the resurrection
and the life

in deep gratitude
i whisper amen