4:00 a.m.

"O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; 

    his steadfast love endures forever!"  Psalm 118:1

it's 4:00 a.m.,

and i am wide awake

(once again) trying not

to look at the clock, or

worrying about something

i did or did not put on

that list i left on the counter,

or hoping that the creak

i hear is just the cat

pushing the closet door 

open and not my anxieties

tip-toeing down the hall

ready to sit by the bed

and read my their

evening liturgy, or wondering

why it is that i seem 

to wake up exactly at 4

most mornings (and are

there other folks wide awake

like me, and if so, maybe

we could start some sort

of club?) and perhaps the

biggest question, worry,

wonder of all

does your steadfast love

really endure forever, even

at 4:00 in the morning?

(c) 2023 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman