A Kitharode's Prayer

My new favorite.

A kitharode sat by a bush and a rock

Alone in a desert on a mountaintop.

The song of his lyre began to fill the air

And this was the kitharode's prayer:

He sang,

"If only, Lord, like Moses, I could meet you face to face,

I'd take your word and share it, hiking place to place.

If only, Lord, you spoke to me the way you spoke to Job,

I wouldn't stop until I circled round the globe."

He shut his eyes as he plucked the lyre

And even the clouds gathered round to listen.

Then they coalesced in the sky overhead

And formed a warm and mourning visage.

He sang on:

"Show me the man among the myrtle trees

And the double-sided flying scroll.

Show me the garments cleaned for the priest

So I can clean my soul."

The kitharode hushed and soloed on his lyre

With notes so hot it set the bush on fire.

Slowing down, he cried from his fingertips

And even the rock started sobbing in a fit.

And he sang:

"Show me what you showed Daniel, please,

And Jacob and Joseph and Jonah, too.

Make it impossible to not believe

And I'll sing every song for you."

The kitharode's lyre sung with such a bounce

That it rose up a skeleton buried underground.

Then it came to life at the sound of his song

And it began to dance along.

As the kitharode wound and settled down

The skeleton returned to its place in the ground.

He wiped away a tear and then opened his eyes,

And gazed at the boundless and cloudless sky.