at the Crossing

an evening eucharist
uplifting queer and trans folks

and all others
who need lifting up

we heard read
a long litany
from the Carmina Gadelica

beautifully pagan
in its embrace of nature

blessing even
the much-maligned serpent

and the raven so dark
and the winter so cold

home-fire bare-branch

swan and honey
son of the stars

i love hearing prayers
and doing rituals

that my procrustean catholicism
had no room for