A Walking Prayer
I’m taking desperate walks like I’m an addict
like I’m a shark - if I stop moving
I’ll sink to the bottom of these unforgiving
seas, currents that resist being charted,
tides hurled by a volatile moon, and always
the scent of blood in the waters
I’ve lost the trail of the metaphor just like
I’ve lost any sense of destination as I walk
just let the breeze blow over me, let my legs
work, let me move let me breathe let me be
dear God don’t let me dissolve - can I trust
that if I stand still I will not settle
like sediment to the drunken deeps
keep me afloat - be the salt in the sea
the rising tide and the magnetic core
maybe I’m walking to find you and maybe
you are everywhere around me already
Aberdeen Livingstone is pursuing a master’s in theology from Regent College in Vancouver. She has poetry in Ekstasis, Solum Literary Press, and Fare Forward, among others, and recently published her debut poetry collection, Velocity: Zero. She writes regularly for her substack, Awaken Oh Sleeper.
Amethyst Review 