Bits of Yarn, Calico and Velvet Scraps                                                            Page 17

THE DARKNESS OF DEATH

The darkness is the world without the sun or the

moon or the stars or any kind of light.

What words are there to describe how cold and

empty and dark existence is without any home to

go to; without anyone to pray to; without any point

of reference for self?

The death of the Father is the loss of my own life -

my life that depended on the Father whom I

believed to be not only good but good to me.

The death of the father has taken away my voice. I

cannot speak. My language is false. Words about

god freeze in my throat and choke.

Words like a fever bring

The pillar of cloud, pillar of fire

Travelling the desert of the mind and face.

Vincent Buckley, 'Stroke'

Prayer means being buffeted by the winds of the

abyss; a mad wandering in the void - no direction,

no path, no way to turn, no ground on which to

stand. Freefall into nothingness. Terror.