I keep going to the river to pray
say my words into a rock and sink it in the pool
tie my doubts together like daisy chains
And let the stream pull them out from me
I slip my clothes off
crack my shoes from my feet like shucking oysters
Dip in heel-first
Let my body flow after
I sit like tea in the shallows
Sins dissipating from my skin in swirls
push off from the mud
mouth open
Gulping at the river bed
My flesh cooling to meet the temperature of the water