Leap of Faith

    By Kaveri Patel

Please come in, don't leave

your fear at the door

like muddy shoes too dirty

to bring inside.

Pull up a chair and tell me

what you cannot tell yourself

in the dark hours when the demons

threaten to swallow you whole

then spit you out into the next day-

chilled and terrified.

I know you don't want to

but take my hand anyway.

Let's jump into the sea,

dive way down to the bottom

where the black pearl is lost

somewhere between the soft folds

of your oyster heart.

I promise not to let go until

you have it in your hands,

we come up for air,

and your lungs fill with

your first breath of joy.

You'll take the pearl home,

string it on your favorite chain,

and wear it close to your heart.

You'll send me a thank you note

believing I somehow saved you.

I'll remind you of the One

who took a leap of faith,

who found the pearl on her own

as I held her hand

and just listened.

© 2011 Kaveri Patel

Kaveri Patel loves to write. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys mindfulness meditation, yoga, parenting, singing, the ocean, family medicine, and spending time with her wonderful family. She won third place in the 2011 international Spirit First poetry contest for her poem “Forgiveness.”  Her work is forthcoming in Buddhist Poetry Review.