Ever watchfully
we pray
we dance to bring on rain,
we see storm clouds gather
we see them fade away.
One thunderclap
won’t make the rain fall,
the rain gods haven’t heard.
If only
If only
our tears could water the earth.
The land is thirsty,
the sun has scorched
the ground,
we long for that joyful moment
when the rain pours down!
Dark formations
move across the skies,
we’re ever watchful
will heaven hear our cries?
©AllysoAlly2022
“Light up the darkness.”
― Bob Marley
we are made to feel the glory
of hallowed earth
born from the colors of holy mirth
fashioned into mysteries of joy
formed to never be destroyed
we have fallen deeply in love
with life
as we inhale each breath
of the divine
and we understand the meaning of grace
looking death in the eye
heaven waits
in the midst of the suffering
Jah is near
we’ve heard the singing
dissolving every fear
while we journey as sacred vessels of light
faith has never been a stranger to our plight
©AllysoAlly2022
“I am in the house of mercy and my heart is a place of prayer.”
― Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi
I pray for
eyes to be open
minds to be freed
peace to surround us
and love to intercede.
for faith to be present
joy to be real
grace to be abundant
and our broken world
to heal…
©AllysoAlly2022
“Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one’s weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
I don’t pray anymore,
I look up at the skies
and see birds flying,
taking messages to heaven for me…
I lie on the ground
and let the earth absorb all the misery
that lives inside me.
I watch butterflies dance
and I marvel at their perfection,
the way they dart between branches…
I don’t pray anymore
I allow the planets to align me
with their mystical powers,
as the moon throws beams of glorious light on me…
I don’t pray anymore
I remember when once I was innocent
and believed in the miraculous,
watching plants grow,
reminding me that
loving kindness is all I need…
I don’t pray anymore,
I taste flowers and bitter herbs
and let them color me
on the inside.
I stand under trees
and feel rooted to the sacred earth.
I let my body
be baptized
in the warmth of the Indian Ocean
as the tide delivers love letters
in the form of broken shells and patterns on the sands…
I don’t pray anymore
I pick wildflowers
and I let pretty grasses anoint my feet.
I don’t pray anymore,
I allow the eyes of children to read me,
while I rewrite my own story…
I speak to the darkness more often
and watch shadows
become lucid dreams…
And when I’m weary
and the world gets too much for me
I breathe God’s name in and out
without vowels YHWH…
I let the sun light my face with freckles
and bring the sparkle back to my hair,
while the wind caresses my weariness…
And if per-chance you see me kneeling
on the sweet earth,
perhaps unknowingly I am praying.
Is that not the true worship of a believer?
This is a re-worked poem I wrote a year ago inspired by Chelan Harkin’s poem… “Susceptible to Light”…and it’s still true. 🙂
“Grace is the permanent climate of divine kindness;
the perennial infusion of springtime into the winter of bleakness.”
― John O’Donohue, Divine Beauty: The Invisible Embrace
There was a time when we walked with grace
held her in our arms
we knew each nuance of her face.
she sang to us in Psalms…
It was a time of compassion
when joy was everywhere
when we were healers
holding back despair…
There was a time
when gladness
danced,
we held each other tight,
joy was palpable
and love was our birthright…
When fear had not arrived
or moved into our quarters,
before walls were built
before they closed the borders…
The rains of sorrow came
and drowned out
our voices
in avalanches of fear
and loud clanging noises!
let the springtime of grace emerge to rain down loving kindness,
as heavy burdens dissipate
and wash away our blindness…
Don’t forget that I am a dreamer, hoping for a time when we can be normal again.
Or perhaps a new age when there will be no borders between us!
©AllysoAlly2021
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.”
― Reinhold Niebuhr
There was hope on the horizon
real hope,
hope shaped like normality,
but it burst
and all its innards spewed out
in lost dreams…
they say that hope deferred
makes the heart sick,
and it does
it really does,
like an affliction moving over me
a slow creep,
a contamination
and life becomes quite shallow….
So, I collect myself
in splattered rooms
where hope is laid bare
and I pick myself up…
I turn again to gratitude
I keep turning until it sees me
I keep counting every blessing
until I lose count…
surrendering to what I cannot change…
right now all I need is wisdom
and courage!!
because the sky is still blue,
the seas never stop moving
and all around me
is the sound of beautiful hearts beating…
I enter into love
and I always find kindness there!
©AllysoAlly2021
After the rain
we watched the skies
We praised the earth
We harmonized
And butterflies wafted
into view
We knew the measure
of being renewed…
©AllysoAlly2021
“God help us to live slowly:
To move simply:
To look softly:
To allow emptiness:
To let the heart create for us.
Amen.”
― Michael Leunig
In glistening meadows
where tall trees grow,
feel the softness
of an awakened glow,
and carve your name
into silvery bark,
where those
before you left their mark,
and in that moment
you’ll understand
your chosen place
in the great expanse,
in gatherings
where mortals
are fully known,
under the skies,
in likened tones…
And even if you get lost
along the way,
and sometimes feel
deeply afraid,
go to the place
where light-beings
assemble,
beneath the boughs
of a holy temple,
allowing the earth
to touch your skin,
as you sense a movement of joy within…
©AllysoAlly2021
I discovered a book called “A Common prayer” ( A cartoonist talks to God)
by an Australian cartoonist, writer, painter, philosopher and poet.
It’s quite beautiful and real!
“What is to give light must endure burning.”
― Victor Frankl
My thoughts are scattered,
with nowhere to land,
I wish my body would understand,
that flights of fancy don’t ground my being,
I’m weighed down by a heavy feeling..
Perhaps Jah will hear my prayers,
and guide me safely through these fears
beaming light from a higher source
and set me gently on another course
that faith may rest on me tonight,
in the tenderness
of lullabies…
That I may awaken from the dread
that lurks relentlessly on my bed..
To bring sweet dreams back into view, and so to banish unutterable blues…
I’ve been feeling out of sorts lately, like the words are stuck in my throat
and won’t go anywhere, just festering in my body.
So many things; the state of the world and present circumstances
have weighed me down..
I think I had hoped by now that the age of Aquarius would have begun
and the world’s suffering would be over…
The Psalmist put his petitions to God, and was honest about his feelings,
I will do the same!
©AllysoAlly2021
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