Pieces

Brain broke
Hearts broke
He broke
She broke
God broke
Life broke

Into pieces

So tiny
And jagged
Never
To be glued
Back together
Again

And the scattered

Pieces sat
For years

And later

The pieces
Pressed together
Where they lay
To form
Something new

Something

That tells
The story
Of being broken

And sometimes

When the light shines
On the fragments
Just right
You can see
What was

See a striking

Resemblance
Of the old

In the shattered

Pieces
Of the
New

Told You So

There can be no
I told you so
As you look upon
My life
Now peaceful
And improved

Every inch
Was fought for
Face in the dirt
Pulled from strength
That did not exist
Taken from a reserve
I did not have

Every bit of progress
Destroyed parts of me
In the getting

Not passive
Not by any stretch

 
Not look
And see
How it all
Worked for good

But rather
Look and see
How tenuous
Life is

How dark
Life can be

Look and see
How we are all
One step away
From any outcome

How there are
No guarantees
For any of us

Regardless of
Which prayers
Are said
And how often
 

There can be no
I told you so
None

There can be only
I don't know

I don’t know
How they
Survived

I don’t know
How they learned
To breathe again
 

I don’t know
How they live
So well now
After all
That has been
Endured

Only Goal Now

My only
Goal now
Is to
Be honest

To not

Hide weakness

To own

My beliefs

To search

And to rest

To not

Allow
Myself
To be rushed

And every so often

My honesty
Will resonate

And every so often

My honesty
Will scare

And every so often

My honesty
Will hurt

Though not written

To resonate
Or scare
Or hurt

Written only

For me

Written only

To practice
Honesty 

Which is best

I’ve decided
Regardless
Of what
Others
Have decided
About me

Pray For You

When people say
I will pray for you
What I want to say is

Please don’t

I did not ask you to do that

It’s not that

I don’t
Believe
In prayer

It’s that

I believe
There are
More honest ways
To pray

Wider ways
That don’t
Leave space
For easy answers

It’s that

I think
It makes more sense
To stand beside someone
On a rocky path
Than to offer prayers
About that path
From a place
Of safety

Don’t pray for me

That’s too easy
Too far removed

Just live life with me

Witness what is

And live

The best prayer
Ever prayed

Torn

When things
Get torn

We try
To put
Them back
Together

That’s nice

But sometimes

Things need tearing

Sometimes

They need
To rip
All the way
To the seam

Sometimes the momentum

Is towards breaking
Not mending
And we need
To just
Let it be

And this

Is a problem
For those
Who only
Know how to help
By fixing

Who busy themselves
Trying to repair tears
That are still tearing

Who fight against

What is to be

Making

Any progress
That is
To be made

Only

Take that much 
Longer

Heal

Sometimes
After black night
Light shines

Sometimes

After no air
Deep breaths

Sometimes

After bitter hurt
Calm

Sometimes

Endless pain
Ends

Sometimes

Unexpectedly
We heal

Matters

Every single
Word of kindness

Every minute

Spent listening
Without judgment

Every hand

Holding onto another’s
In the depths

Every companion

Who lacks a solution
But comes anyway
With a heart
To keep company

Every bit of hope dispensed

All of it

Changes us

All of it

Matters