Waiting

This is a practical religion         there is a prayer at dawn (beginning when it is light enough outside for a black thread to be distinguishable from a white thread and ending at sunrise)         there is a prayer at noon (beginning when my shadow is the driest puddle at me feet and ending when my shadow is as long as I am tall)         there is an afternoon prayer (beginning when my shadow is as long as I am tall and ending at sunset)         there is a prayer at sunset (beginning when the sun sets and ending after dusk)         there is a prayer at night (beginning after dusk and ending at dawn)         these five are obligatory         an app on my phone alerts me when the time for one has come         there is a prayer for rain there is a prayer for the dead         there is a thanksgiving prayer and a prayer for guidance there is a prayer for greeting a mosque when one enters         this is a practical religion         there is no prayer for waiting for a married man to ping ping         this religion is not sentimental is not just fuzzy heart-feels         it is a code of law is you step outside the law this religion stops talking to you          it is unclear how to proceed.
Copyright Credit: Noor Naga, "Waiting" from washes, prays.  Copyright © 2020 by Noor Naga.  Reprinted by permission of McClelland & Stewart, Ltd., a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. All rights reserved.
Source: washes, prays (McClelland & Stewart, Ltd., 2020)