to stick my toe into the water

My desire 

is always the same; wherever Life 

deposits me: 

I want to stick my toe 

& soon my whole body 

into the water. 

I want to shake out a fat broom 

& sweep dried leaves 

bruised blossoms dead insects 

& dust. 

I want to grow something. 

It seems impossible that desire 

can sometimes transform into devotion; 

but this has happened. 

And that is how I've survived: 

how the hole 

I carefully tended 

in the garden of my heart 

grew a heart 

to fill it.

by Alice Walker