Hold my hand oh Father, Lord, and lead me

in the dark, where hollow voices cry,

Out of this blasted, graven pit,

Sickly sweet with music. and filled

with smoke, all warm with

jingly bracelets and light laughter

that stains and blots and drags

and settles, mud, beneath the floor.

My eyes are swollen shut. Somehow

I cannot feel the doorway My hands and

feet are numb and yet it’s warm and

sickly sweet like warming wine

I only feel the darkness. I only feel the

smoke that twists around and burns

my swollen eyes till tears run out.

No light, no light, and yet I know

it’s there. I saw it once before,

Before the smoke and crying laughter.

When flowers came and water flowed all clean

I felt it on my face.

How I long to feel the cool sweet

current of the stream where I once walked.

Oh, Father take my hand and lead me in this

dark where hollow voices cry.