How is It

by Kriss Miller – Friend in Residence

from Prayer for a Child by Rachel Field; illustrated by Elizabeth Orton

How is It

How is It

how is it so much to ask

to right the wrongs of the human condition

to find the strength  

to hold space for the anguish of another

how is it so much to ask

that one’s body belongs to itself

and not the current state of the state

how is it so much to ask

for food

not only for the body

but for the soul

how is it so much to ask

that the trees breathe in air

as clean for their lungs

as the air, they offer us in return

how is it so much to ask

that a child might run free

in the light of an eternal love

that pours out adoration without extraction

how is it so much to ask

that one sleeps soundly through the night

in a bed with a blanket

woven from their hopes and dreams

how is it so much to ask

for just the right eraser

to rub out the line

between the darkness and the Light

what if instead

we let our hearts be broken

that we ourselves might open

to let in the Light

stopped the asking

erased the lines

and wrapped ourselves in the blankets of our wildest dreams

as though Spirit would ever deny this option

come Light, I am willing