prayer rocks on mnisiing

empty benches

on the night ferry
to Toronto Island
wandering
under star light
glimmering in the
glow of the city
illuminating Lake Ontario
lapping the sand
quietly seeping into
your shoes

the confluence of
water and sky
is a gorgeous
grey mystery
half aglow
words bearing
the weight and anxieties
of late capitalism
shutter in and out
between invisible spider webs
tickling your ears
as you walk
by quiet waters
hidden under
the stray sounds of distant
house parties

what is there to celebrate
in these twinkling glass
modernist temples, on
stolen land, they
instil religious reverence
glimmering romance
in the warm darkness
of another beautiful
summer night
you reach for smooth rocks
hiding under the sand
tossing them, but
they will never reach
those towering
crystalline goliaths
these rocks don’t skip
sinking below the surface
like Saint Peter
lacking faith
to become
pieces of eucharist
to feed hungry sheep
faith that
another world is possible
faith all scared
and vulnerable those
resting heads on sidewalks
this night
under these same stars
can make their home
among those twinkling
cathedrals of glass
find god’s love
in this cruel world of ours