then let your prayer begin

we have just this one fragile life

let your heart break with those
for whom it is already shattered
who are cut everyday
by the shards of hatred
despair
and fear

for whom this is all there is
and all there ever will be.

let your heart break
with those who only know the ache of gnawing hunger
who will die today
empty-stomached
or empty-hearted

let your heart break
with those who face a future
surrounded by concrete walls
or walls as impenetrable as concrete

let your heart break
with those who do not see today’s sunshine
but who live only one long night.

do not fill their darkness
or this space
with platitudes.

let your heart break

and then let your prayer begin…

hold :: this space