there is something liberating
about being dust.
i ease my clenched fists open
release control over my own life
and let the breath of God
blow me where it will.
if i am stepped on,
it is no humiliation
and maybe the foot that smashes
will carry me down paths
unknown, to worlds
surprising.
dust has no need for food or drink
or all that ties down weary bones.
dust is not concerned with things
too big for it –
it simply is.
God if i must be dust
let me be
your dust.
let me be
packed into a brick on a lonely woman’s cottage
or built into the child’s mud pie
or let me lie
at the base of a weed
and nourish it with all that i am.
even as dust i am
your beloved;
i am beloved and safeguarded by you.
God i am dust
and i am yours:
shape me as you will.
If you use this piece, please credit it to Avery Arden and link this website. I also invite you to email me at queerlychristian36@gmail.com to let me know how you’re using it!
I ruminate further on the themes in this poem in this YouTube video.
Binary-Breaking Worship 