"The Slowed Evening Is Carried In Prayer"









Cliffs and rock formations are common in the Inland Empire, especially around rivers and lakes. Traveling home at the end of the my teaching day these natural forms of beauty shelter me from wind and sun. The words of William Stafford were perfect for describing these breathtaking rock walls. I agree with him- "the slowed evening is carried in prayer. "
Vespers
As the living pass, they bow
till they imitate stones.
In the steep mountains then
those millions remind us:
every fist the wind has
loses against those faces.
And at the end of the day
when every rock on the west
claims a fragment of sun,
a last bird comes, wing and
then wing over the valley
and over the valley, and home,
Till unbound by our past we sing
wherever we go, ready or not,
stillness above and below, the slowed
evening carried in prayer toward the end.
You know who you are:
This is for you, my friend.
William Stafford

Comments

  1. I found this by reading your "prayer" tags. It's wonderful! I'm glad you had it here for me to read tonight at the end of a long next-to-last week of school. Thanks for sharing it!

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