Key to Faith

By Bonita Jewel

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If faith could make a sound, I wonder now
What syllables, what stresses, might it use
What pronunciation guide might show me how
To ply my faith with the key to solve this ruse

Instead, I often stumble in the dark
Some light beyond my reach my only hope
Instead, I search for flints to make a spark
But drop them in the mud and start to grope

For methods, for some stringent rule to guide
Me through this arbitrary string of days
Regardless of relentless efforts plied
So often I still wander through this maze
​
Is it that faith does not need a key to ply?
Can faith sometimes be the tear, the cry?

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Bonita Jewel visited India when she was 16 and stayed for nearly 12 years. Now residing in California with her husband and three children, she holds an MFA in Creative Writing. A freelance writer and editor for 13 years, Bonita’s writing has recently been published with upstreet magazine, Ekstasis and Dos Gatos Press. You can connect with her at bonitajewel.com.

Bonita's other work on Foreshadow:
Heart to Heart (Poetry, September 2023)