A Tiny Touch of Grace

Safety, I wish them safety,
everywhere that bombs are dropping,
every place that people wake in fear.
Though we know creation starts
by desire and by vision,
still it hurts, as it must,
moving towards the pain.
Does my humming prayer
reach around the burning earth?
Soothe a mother whose arms
are empty of the child who died?

When I woke this morning,
I felt a woman wake in Gaza
from a dream of peace
to a world of bombs.
The nightmare met her opened eyes.
The empty belly, the terrible thirst
for safety, for water, for escape.
She woke to war and wished
never to wake again.
Awake in Gaza, she had to remember
her arms are empty, her child is dead.

Changes cannot manifest
without desire or a vision.
Yes it hurts, as it must,
moving towards the pain.
It’s a way you let your willingness,
a connection to her suffering,
be a tiny touch of grace
the mother’s heart might feel.
Don’t hold it back for flimsy fear of feeling foolish.
Wish for safety everywhere the bombs are dropping,
every place that people wake in fear.

©Susa Silvermarie 2024