Sunday, December 1, 2013

The Gift

When I am an old woman,
and I suspect I am about 
to die,  
I want to give away a shawl.    
Not a brand new one, 
but one that has been  
to the grocery store 
and to the post office 
and all the other ordinary places 
where I daily go.       
 
It won't be tattered and discarded, 
or one that just never felt quite right. 
Those can be given at any time.  
But one you wear, that 
is something else again.  
I think that is what Jesus knew.    
 
I have such a shawl now, 
given to me by a friend 
who has now passed.  
It is large and drapes abundantly,
and can cover my head 
in a damp mist,
like a good shawl should.      
 
So, as I prepare to walk out the door, 
and my hands reach out 
and I touch this shawl once more,  
I think of her  
and I give thanks  
and I pray  
that one day 
I will know 
that the time has come   
to pass it on.     
  

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