Desert

Ivan Kramskoy, Christ in the wilderness (1872), Tretyakov Gallery Moscow

Forty days and forty nights

between a rock and a hard place

and it is getting harder.

Hunger is one thing

but the thirst is on my mind constantly.

 

The desert is a lonely place

in the chill of the dawn

but I know I need to be here.

It is part of my journey,

my history, my fate if you like.

 

I’m resting more and more now

and I have no words to form my prayers.

I want to ask if I can be spared this trial

but I know I am in the care of the angels.

Where are they?

Where are the angels?

 

My flesh is getting weaker

and my spirit…

it’s a struggle, such a struggle

and I wonder if I have indeed been abandoned.

I feel so alone.

 

O Lord, hear my prayer.

O Lord, hear my prayer.

When I call, answer me.

Send your angels to watch over me and keep me safe.