Tonight

I drag my body
Like a Hebrew slave
Toiling with great stones
In Egyptian heat.

It complains to me
In the ancient language
Of pain
Prehistoric and guttural.

They say angels hover
Around the prayers
Of saints
The plea of the righteous.

Refresh me
O, Lord.
Answer the cries
Of my unfaithful flesh.

One more day
In the desert
Before Jordan
Rolls.

I can smell the river
From here.
Tonight
I’ll camp in Canaan.