even with this distracted mind
i detect you in fragmented details

you take credit for my smallest triumph
and also in every fall from grace

as you raise, then drop me
i am blinded by the streaking lights
that mark my ventures

yet i see you
despite this garishness
of desire and deceit

you dwell in a desert
you planted in my soul

and it is here i roam
longing for life
whose sparseness makes me burn

standing here, shaded by your temperance
i stare in amazement
at the pilgrims in your house

safe in the niche between your hands
bathed in your mercy
drunk with your allowances

they circle and cease
certain of being heard
with outstretched arms

and i, unable to even lift my gaze
without your favor, am struck
by the ease you have granted your creatures

that they tread on the hem of your robe
praying for your nearness