The little church that is the morning
the stillness that allows (at least)
for breathing—we are to be alive
and Holy and pour forth into the day
of trials both as the fire punching
birds into the sky and as the water
to make of the world a cleansed
nest once more. Almost cruelty
each day in dawning a sermon
of hope cresting the trees and we
by breakfast cleft into apostle
and disciple. Even the doves
can only hold aloft for so long.
By sundown we roost into one again
united by the exhaustion of both
wings beating.
Risa Pappas is a poet, filmmaker, writer, editor, audiobook narrator, and public speaker. She has most recently been published in bluntly magazine and Black Fox Literary Magazine and is a senior editor at Tolsun Books. Risa received her MFA in creative writing at Fairleigh Dickinson University. She currently resides near Philadelphia.