They say that Elijah raised a fatherless child,
stretched out corpselike over his body,
breathing for him, with him, breathing
until his new life began.
His mother, from then on, developed
a habit of peering over his shoulder
into the shadows,
fearful of what might be demanded in return.

I could not breathe for you,
or lay out your barely-formed body.
You fell away from me, and no prophet,
nor medicine man could pull you back.
I could only sing bitter-sweet praises to
the God of the living and the dead,
Who raised you as Her own
and loved you where I never saw you go.