For you, O God, my soul in riot waits;
my spirit thunders within my bones.
I am altogether disquieted.
Like a child disappointed in a toy store
I wait with rage upon your favour;
like a toddler torn from sleep by terror
in the night my soul thrashes loudly.
As the hyena hungers,
as the hungry lion grumbles,
I am greedy for your comfort.
i have fallen further than the sun at its setting,
more than the sun at its setting.
Oh that I had the eyes of a hawk to see your face,
the wings of an albatross to span the rift between
the world and your still waters;
the appetite of the dove for the olive branch.
Give thanks, o my soul, unto your God who abides in peace,
whose silent forbearance is beyond understanding.
The Revd Rosalind C Hughes is Rector of the Church of the Epiphany, Euclid, Ohio. She blogs at over the water/ www.rosalindhughes.com . Her first book, A Family Like Mine: Biblical Stories of Love, Loss, and Longing, is due out April 1.