KELLY RITTER

CRAZYQUILT

Hail Marys beside the trundle bed
under a sky on fire.
Child waiting for her call up and out
late Saturday, alone.

To prepare,
I will recast all of history:
A sparkling roulette wheel.
A box of questions, sampled.

The part of parts
separates from the whole, and the equation
is a garden maze.
She is the shape changer in the room,
I only embrace invention.

Elegant processional,
tuck of skirts and whispers,
but she suspects there is more than this--

Not in the space for seeing,
but just beyond: God in storage,
salvation in suspension. Ask to
pray for us now and let the other children

go on praying. Pray we keep our lives
wrapped in plastic.