My prayer

I cannot keep my heart safe by locking it away,
A heart cannot survive alone in the dark,
It needs warmth, and motion, closeness and care

Silence sets in like frostbite,
At first numbing the pain,
Lessening the ache of life

Eventually it may even feel warm
Like this new stillness is safety
But this lie is insidious

For without warmth,
pressure and force,
A heart is just meat.

I know this to be true,
Because I have walked that lonesome path,
Hearing it’s lies echo in my mind

That a man with meat in his chest was still alive

But it is no life.
And while the blood still fills my heart,
I cry out

Give me pain,
Let me scream and wail,
Cry
Gasp
Shout
Writhe
Moan
Flail
Scratch
and claw

Let me weep

Give me laughter
And love
And fear
And hurt

This is the path I choose for myself.
Let the ground quake with my every step,
For the weight of the heart in my chest.

And if I am still served nothing but silence,
Know I will sing my sorrow inside to keep my blood going.
For never again shall I let my heart go silent whilst I live.