hands

Hands clasped at the rail while I pass the bread of life

Just a ritual we have done dozens of times

Squeezing your hands after the bread has left my hand

A passing of peace, a prayer for your health and strength

All pass in that one grasp of hands and it all transpires in a second

Hands clasped over the bed rail as you wish for me to stay

Just to sit and be with you a presence, companions

On the way to the unknown in front of us

So many questions of life and what it is

The meaning lost because we think of quality and struggle

Is it worth all the unknowns, all the pain of just trying to make

It through to another day, is it hard to pray when

Someone asks to be let go and I hold your hands

Kiss your cheek and wonder how I will let go again

Because life takes us down this road again and again

We decide to risk again our hearts in companionship on the way

Only to lose a traveler to deaths door

And yet without the risking we never understand loves shore

Nor do we understand rebirth and resurrection life

So here I am holding hands at the side of the bed

Praying for your strength to find the door

To new life and cherishing each day we travel it together.