Prayer for Waiting in Line

i thank
God and Gravity
that i can stand.

i thank those
who are waiting
to serve me
for expending moments
of their lives
so that they
may help
me with mine.

i thank
the Mysterious Maker
for the back
of this woman's head,
her twisted braids,
her flowered blouse:

and i thank this same
Maker
for giving me the
fevered imagination
that lets me conjure
her life story
while we wait.

This emptiest
of moments
is so full of
sense
and sensation
that i must leave off
telling of it
and get to
living it --

--Mr. Gobley