patience

(Found here)

i sat in quiet so i could learn to pray

to learn again a native eloquence

the gaps in what is said and left unsaid

the wordless groans that could not find their shape.

i sat in stillness for i tried to tame

the errant flickers of a wandering mind,

to quell the fidgeting of anxious flesh,

to learn again to hear His still small voice.

when silence was the crucible of doubt

and prayers wafted loftily like smoke,

when starlight painted avenues to home

and aching feet tread on a patchy road,

i learned that waiting was in the becoming

and held the words that never were my own.

~Jonathan Chan