My friend Mirabai posted this today and it felt like a good companion and antidote to the feelings expressed in my last poetry. This poetry was inspired by her friend Andrew Harvey, in a book she did many years ago in collaboration with her dear friend and renowned iconographer, Fr. Bill McNichols, Mother of God Similar to Fire.
MOTHER OF GOD, SHE WHO HEARS THE CRIES OF THE WORLD
Mother of Mercy,
the cries of the world keep me awake at night.
I rise from my bed, but I cannot locate the source of the wailing.
It is everywhere, Mother, coming from all directions,
and my heart is shattered by the sheer intensity of suffering.
You of boundless compassion,
expand my heart so that I can contain the pain.
Focus my mind so that I can arrive at viable solutions,
and energize my body so that I can engage in effective action.
Give me the courage to follow the crumbs of heartbreak
all the way home to the place where I can be of real service.
Let me dip my fingers into the dew of your compassion
and scatter it now over the fevered brow of this world.
(Mirabai Starr)