How do I put it?
My god’s heart is a deep well,
and so I have come to worship
and make wishes,
circling around him sunwise
like a pilgrim, dazed and hungry.
One by one I toss these smiles
his way
like silver coins, not worth much
these days but worth the time it takes
to watch them sink, still slightly spinning,
through the still waters of the dark
to see how deep it goes.
Who knows
if the wishes will come true?
A thousand years from now,
all they will find are the offerings,
lost tokens of longing:
the pile of unspent silver,
the bent and broken sword of my desire,
which never saw battle
nor tasted flesh,
a sacrifice to the god of rust and time
and unmet glances.

[Alison Leigh Lilly dwells in the lovely, rain-drizzled cityscape of Seattle, where she shares her home with her brilliant and bearded husband, her black cat, two pet frogs, and innumerable cedar trees. Nurturing the earth-rooted, sea-soaked, mist-and-mystic spiritual heritage of her Celtic ancestors, she explores themes of peace, poesis and wilderness through essays, poetry and podcasting. You can learn more about her work on her website at: alisonleighlilly.com]