The Cedarville Review 2020

POETRY | 19 LIVING SACRIFICE ABIGAIL SHAFFER Praise Him. I praise Him! O Lord of my waking, Overseer of my lungs, Blood-keeper: Please take as my praise All that I lived today. Highest Ruler, take the dark smudged eyeliner I slept in; take the hours I did not wake And smile upon them; Look favorably on all the times I tried to move and could not, take my Throbbing arms and hands paralytic. Take my rising from the dead And take my surprise when I cried bitterly, Kneeling on the floor, shivering; Accept as a sweet aroma the sour sweat That coated my sheets and skin.