Serenity

God give me the serenity I do not deserve.

A luxury bought with the blood of those who came before me.

Give me the peace that comes from a privilege I did nothing to earn.

And tell me I am loved

And tell me we are equals

That we are pruned from the same branch

Plucked from the same fruit tree

And tell me that these eyes have not seen the battlefield.

The bloodshed

The tears of a mother on a street corner

And tell me the soil isn’t soaked in it.

God give me the courage to fight for a world I cannot yet see.

A better world

A better country

A better me

Even if it means breaking in the process

because some things cannot get better unless they’ve first been broken.

And give me the strength to break if the mountains are calling me to break for them

And give me the resilience to grow if the forests are calling me to grow once more.

And if the seasons must change then let them

And if I am to burn then let me burn

But do not hesitate to pull me closer to your heart

In the still of the twilight if only to keep you warm.

And god give me the wisdom to know when to shut up.

When to sit down and let someone else speak for a change.

Give me the wisdom to know I am loved

And that to love is to be closer to you

Grant me the wisdom to know that we are all more similar than different

But the awareness to accept that we are still very different.

Give me the wisdom to know when to fight or when to forgive

The ability to learn to forgive again

And the knowledge that sometimes breaking is what is necessary.

Fighting might be necessary

Grant me the acuity to change with the seasons.

The perception to hear the mountains when they call

And the wisdom to know that I will never truly be ready to burn.