by Ryan Keating

I speak in tongues 
when no one is listening
and my soul needs to talk 
to someone and be heard
like liquid gurgling as it pours
from a mostly full clay jar 
in words I haven’t really learned
and don’t think I know
(maybe angels do)
to pray the urgent accumulating 
things I probably should not 
understand and cannot tell
because language is coarse
the spirit fine and my mind 
wants the music hidden 
between the keys and syllables
that no other audience could
appreciate or inspire.

Ryan Keating is a writer, pastor, and winemaker on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. His work can be found or is forthcoming in publications such as Saint Katherine Review, Ekstasis Magazine, Amethyst Review, Fare Forward, Macrina Magazine, Fathom, Dreich, and Miras Dergi, where he is a regular contributor in English and Turkish.

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