Pillow Talk

Sometimes as I lie awake at night, my head begins to feel heavy with the clutter piling up in the recesses of my mind. Stacks of newspapers, unopened greeting cards, old soda bottles; eventually they will cover every surface, and then where will I lie awake at night?

I find little margin left for peace as I stave off the anxiety of the undone. Maybe if I just got a couple more things wrapped up… And yet, I know that a thousand perfectly checked to-do lists will never bring even one moment of real peace. Those false-god lists promise much and deliver little but more clutter, a tidy new stack in some unused corner.

I do not give as the world gives.

Indeed you do not! You do not give to-do lists at all! Those come when something is lost in translation between the divine will and my frantic mind. You give peace that doesn’t need to be understood… And so I will ask and refuse to analyze:

Teach me silence. Teach me detachment. Teach me trust.

And, for goodness’ sake, teach me to go to bed on time!

© 2018 Jacqueline Tisthammer. All Rights Reserved.