Behind a man, we withstand in rows
Days and nights like hungry sloths pass by
We stand this standing of purity
Vertical feet and shoulders erect
Horizontal feet and shoulders in line
Like the army—maybe an army
We stand for ten minutes or more
Five this way, through three-thirty-six days
And sag in front of your Lord
Who carpeted the earth for plea
No need to pay for daily stretches
As some day you will never stand it
It will inexorably stand you
And surrender your faces
Equal to the earth like this;
“He went a little farther
And fell on His face, and prayed”
There! God watches you as you can’t
You may look black in the face
God cares, but who cares?
There! an intense proximity to God
And He Sees you with the best supplication
Upon standing, I posit palms on earth
Sometimes, clench my fist to stand
With time, my hand will race the atmosphere
Harder than the boxer’s
The last stand eases the limbs
Thighs and shins folded by chain of knees
