Reminders of a Gentler Path

Help us to honor

and set down

the layers of stories

carried for so long

in our minds.

Help us to listen

and speak with

our hearts

again —

to know

the tenderness

in the silent spaces

we tried so hard

to fill

and in the pain

we tried to

so hard

to sort out.

May our own

unfolding steps

be reminders

of a gentler path.

Amen