A Second Time

Nine months on the head of pin

(where the angels dance), 

nine months of swimming

through the warmest sort of dark 

and hearing the muffled sounds 

of talk from outer space.

I've never swum like that since--

I had to learn how a second time.

Nine months of feeling 

the dexterity of God's fingers

as He gave my heart its beat,

knit together bone and flesh,

gave me a beautiful body

so I would see and hear,

 speak, taste, smell,

touch, think, understand,

love.

I've never felt God's hand like that since--

I had to learn how a second time.

There have been so many second times

for me.

What of those small-large souls,

the ones who do not simply fade away,

do not simply slip back soft into the heart of God? 

What of the those who rage against the dying of the light?