your grace, II

I saw it, you know...
that tear you almost didn't show -
that tear you somehow dried, from the inside
as you stood there
being brave.

But though I believe you might just be a saint --
that you are right in your restraint to know
you cannot be the one to take the place of God
and wipe the tears from my face --
as I watched you in that place, I have to say,
I wanted to be the one to reach a hand and wipe it all away.

And I may just be a fool, to write those words,
but sometimes
I don't care.
Sometimes, I think it's there that I'm most free -
when I can be a mirrored fool and see on another's face
the tears I will not bear to fall from mine.

And so I pray:

Ineffable FatherGod, who art in heaven and in tears,
hallowed be thy sorrow-spoken name.
On this day, I thank thee all the same for thy Grace,
which I imagine dripping down another person's face,
teaching me to cry my own tears, for me,
teaching me to BE.

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