Listen Heart
\nBy
\nJoseph Anthony Petro<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Go easy on yourself. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\nYou\u2019re working hard giving birth to the soul.
\nAllow yourself to rest awhile in a bed of light,
\nAnd in the coolness of the soft-winged darkness\u2014
\nThe one that cradles seeds and roots,
\nThe one that carries starlight faithfully on its shoulders
\nAll those millions of millennia.
\nOK, so the mind you\u2019re with has made some mistakes\u2014
\nCut him some slack. He is learning to live unchained
\nWhile at the same time bound in God\u2019s care.
\nYou say you feel empty and yet full of sorrow?
\nThose are contractions from what I am told.
\nTry and stay steady. I know you\u2019re young,
\nYou always will be. But you and the mind
\nMust work together during this process,
\nAnd you must take the lead.
\nI realize he is often busy in some fantasy, hating himself–
\nFind a way, lean on others\u2014the midwives
\nYou know so well. Let them help you,
\nHold you, coach you along.
\nYou are doing precious, incredible work\u2014
\nSo precious you might want to call it play–holy play.
\nYou are freeing the soul from waves
\nThat course in and out of you–
\nThe ones that toss even the mind
\nUp and down in swirling eddies,
\nSo the more light-hearted you can be the better.
\nAnd the mind is helping you
\nBy learning to stay present no matter what you are feeling,
\nAnd your light helps him for he lives in darkness
\nMuch of the time. So play. Play in hands of light,
\nAnd let the soul go, dear heart. Let her go, like a song,
\nLike a breath, like a prayer wept when you have no strength left.
\nLet her go the same way you want me to let you go,
\nThe same way I want the mind to let me go\u2014gently, gradually\u2014now<\/em>—
\nAnd perfectly, with grace, humor, and dignity.
\nAnd while you and the mind work together on this,
\nI will be here, wrapped in silence, trying to believe
\nWhat I tell you–trying to believe that no matter what happens,
\nI am worthy of love.<\/p>\n