I No Longer Pray

~ Chelan Harkin from Susceptible to Light

Lunar Rhapsody

24 x 36 x 1.5 on Canvas

I no longer pray— 

now I drink dark chocolate and let the moon sing to me.

I no longer pray—

I let my ancestors dance through my hips at the slightest provocation.

I no longer pray—

I go to the river and howl my ancient pain into the current.

I no longer pray—

I ache, I desire,I say “yes” to my longing.

I no longer pray as I was taught

but as the stars crawl onto my lap like soft animals at nighttime 

and God tucks my hair behind my ears with the gentle fingers of her wind

and a new intimacy is uncovered in everything,

perhaps it's that I’m finally learning how to pray.

Chelan Harkin is an author, poet and mother. At the age of 21, she found herself in the save Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i faith, and heard "Let us dance" -- which was a turning point of her life.