There is a Space
there is a space within me
sometimes it feels as if it has been
scooped and hollowed out by God
who waits patiently for the invitation
and then
like a cat
will curl up on the hearth of my heart
sometimes it feels as if it has been
chipped and mined and the black coal hauled
so that God can fill it with grace and benediction
sometimes it feels as if it has been
ripped out of me by life’s wild horses
and God has nothing to do with it
but by implication
for the part torn out of me
is you
We are Afraid of Silence
we are afraid of silence
the agonised silence of the cross
and the silence of God in that hanging
we are afraid of silence
the silence of the space after our prayerful call
and the silence of our own voice inarticulate
we are afraid of silence
the silence of the empty room of our grief
and the silence of those who fear their own tongue
we are afraid of silence
the silence of a complicit world before its own pain
and the silence of those who turn away
we are afraid of silence
the silence of the dark soul-night
and the silence of the answer that returns in that darkness
we are afraid of silence