If I sit down quietly
Then slide to my knees
Palms facing each other
Raised up before my face
Will a thirty-second recitation
Of your name in time
With each exhaled breath
Be enough to burn
The root of the kudzu vine
To free my laden soul to be
At ease — my head resting
On your lap and drifting
Will a night of rest
With you be enough
To navigate tomorrow’s
Hazy glare and hairpin turns
Or will I end up again
Sitting down quietly before
Sliding to my knees
Raising prayerful hands
Recognizing the beginning
And the end