Rosary

"Here's a rosary, count on every bead . . ."
~ Emmylou Harris ~

~~ Lost & Found: One Very Unique Denim Rosary ~~

This rosary came into my life one morning about 20 years ago,
when I opened my back door, on Beaumont Street in West Philly,
and there it was on the sidewalk at the foot of my back steps.

For several weeks, I left it where any passerby could see, in case
someone came searching for a lost rosary; but it was never claimed,
so eventually, I took it in and have kept it safe in a drawer ever since.

You never know what you'll find right outside your door . . .
or hidden away in a drawer somewhere!

Speaking of drawers and crucifixes . . .

What's in My Journal

Odd things, like a button drawer. Mean
Thing, fishhooks, barbs in your hand.
But marbles too. A genius for being agreeable.
Junkyard crucifixes, voluptuous
discards. Space for knickknacks, and for
Alaska. Evidence to hang me, or to beatify.
Clues that lead nowhere, that never connected
anyway. Deliberate obfuscation, the kind
that takes genius. Chasms in character.
Loud omissions. Mornings that yawn above
a new grave. Pages you know exist
but you can't find them. Someone's terribly
inevitable life story, maybe mine. [emphasis added]

by William Stafford ( 1914 – 1993)
from his collection Crossing Unmarked Snow