when the daffodils pray

When the old man prays
he drags his chair out

into the yard and sits
smoking and wriggling his toes

into the grass. He
draws deep, hacks, and spits

and says, "amen."

When the Baal Shem Tov prays
a great trembling seizes him.

Those of his disciples who dare
to look at his face

are also seized with trembling.
They cannot speak for days.

He stands, arms outstretched,
a fine dust is loosed from above,

and even the scroll rustles.

The ass prays when her master
approaches the fence line.

She trots toward him and
honks like a goose, crazy with love.

The tender grasses at her hooves
bow and slowly rise, saying,

""We too have desired your coming."

When the evangelist prays
his tone changes and his eyes

roll back into the top of his skull.
He breathes the word,

"jeezussuh," again and again.
which the child understands

to mean, "I love you."

When the little boy prays
he imagines he is speaking

to a great big flower. He tells
the flower everything that has passed

and asks her forgiveness
for pinching his sister.

The daffodils outside his window
lean their brightly colored

heads in to one another
and sway for joy.

They do not know why.