Together II

I cannot smile enough to make you happy
I have not hands enough to wipe away all tears
I wish I could stretch time enough to spend more with you
but I will fail and fail again, I fear

I wish my heart could hold all your heartaches
but I cannot love enough to heal all wounds
As it is my heart is slowly breaking
Here we are, strangers in the same room

My arms are not strong enough to hold you together
nor are they quick enough to catch your fall
I'm on the same shifting ground that has tripped you
In the echoing darkness I cannot hear you call

But together our smiles will cheer the sunshine
and our hands will dry the rain
Our hearts united will hold the heavens
with a love that assuages all pain
The arms of many will move mountains
with the swiftness of the wind
And together we will walk cross the continents
having realized that we - once strangers - are friends.

Some

Some stood up once and sat down.
Some walked a mile and walked away.
Some stoop up twice and sat down.
I've had it, they said.
Some walked two miles then walked away.
It's too much, they cried.

Some stood and stood and stood.
They were taken for fools.
They were taken for being taken in.

Some walked and walked and walked.
They walked the earth.
They walked the waters.
They walked the air.

Why do you stand, they were asked, and
Why do you walk?

Because of the children, they said,
and Because of the heart, and
Because of the bread.
Because

The cause
Is the heart's beat
And the children born
And the risen bread.

-Daniel Berrigan, SJ