I walk
where the deer walk
and the lone winter walker, following
the last vestiges of winter to the overlook—
the Good Place
where I can rest
in my belonging, knowing my tracks too
will soon be erased.
And I wonder if our trials, like footprints,
become untraced
and all that remains
in vast, indistinguishable space
are the small rivers
of giving.
I don’t know
if I have ever truly given,
but it is not some heavenly god who will at the last step
show or tell me, but the good earth,
this tangible god,
I blindly tread.
Elise Lark, PhD, LCSW, is the visionary founder of Circle of Friends for the Dying.