Unfolding

In Your Sight

I want to unfold. 

Let no place in me hold itself closed, 

For where I am closed, I am false. 

I want to stay clear in your sight.

-Rainer Maria Rilke, The Book of Hours I, 13 

In your sight I have cried, and nearly died

Finding myself in pieces, collapsing

At a rate I could not anticipate

Dissipate

Or even attempt to abbreviate

I have struggled

Striven

And been immensely given

The grace of your gaze and your hand 

Promised hope while I could not cope

Or collect myself 

To stand 

In your presence

The waiting

In your company

The journey

In your trust

The emergence of all that remained within me

Through fallow and foreign times

The light that enters the world

Emerges in the company of those 

Who stand and offer witness

Hold hands and are in this

Reminding us, when light fades,

There will always be light within us

For those who help us unfold

Held in their hopeful grip 

Careful to listen and reflect

Refuse to release or reject; 

Those whom we show,

While we lose what we know,

Our clumsy, fragile, tired selves

You have surprised me

Still loved me

Returned me to myself

Taught me how to return others to themselves

Who stands as witness, 

Believes in you(r)

Return to life 

Resurrection

Story told and written anew

Incarnation in your life

From the ashes of what was 

From the release of what could not be

We are stewards of one another

Witnesses to the journey

Shepherds to the thresholds

Companions through the transitions

Bearers of hope too heavy to hold

Bearers of our unwritten and lived stories

Bearers of the humanity and divinity in one another 

In your sight

In this light

We unfold

Our sacred covenant to one another

To protect the unfolding

Protect the space that nurtures the whole spirit, mind, body, person

To come alive

Deeply and fully

To unfold

In your sight

In this light 

Through a dark and uncertain night

I give thanks for those 

Who believed in my trueness

Settled not for my falseness

Believed in the glory

And breathed life into the story

That all that dies will bring new life again

In the company of trusted others

In the community of subtle saints

In the companionship of gentle and fierce guides

We unfurl and embrace our unfolding