stone-drop prayer

            stone-drop prayer

was it not
compassion
that we were
put here on the
hearth of a warmth
precious flaw
in the vast set
crystal of all
there is
infinitely
cold?

was it not
compassion that
gave us eyes to
see beyond the
sun into the
dark sea floor
of our own heart
the rich mud there
spawning the
manta ray
the whales of
relief?

was it not
compassion that
even in the cruellest
of battles we could
learn to reach hands
toward each other
to cradle the wound
the nurse of tear
the stitch of
blood?

let the wave rise
in the one heart
to wash warm and
clear through all hearts
to tumble apart
thought that hardens
to weapon to feel
the warmth of
one self not as
body and soul
broken apart like
hard dry bread
for birds but as
each and all
together

was it not
compassion that
we were
we are
let us know it
again in the
sun’s warmth
and in that
our own
precious flaw
in the vast set
crystal of all
there is
infinitely
cold

august 2015
ware place, pakuranga heights