Prayer

This wicked heart
that holds you away, Lord,

it betrays my true self,
the woman I have
always wanted to be,

saddled like a pack animal
with the burdens
of common trauma
of broken cups, broken hearts,
and broken promises

and longs to heal the selfishness of ego
that blinds me from seeing the way
you have cleared for me and  that takes me
from the joy
that I  know
in the quiet whisperings
at dawn
with you.

Pray for the sky to open
beautiful
like the petals
of a single rose
and for wisdom to shine
on my mind
so that I might melt
my frozen fear

with the kindness
of strangers
who smile
and offer
their fortune
and ask nothing
in return.