A prayer on continuing

Continuing--

Is a prayer that my mom taught me

I don't think she meant too

And I'm sure my grandma didn’t either

But I watched and I learned

I understood the assignment

I needed help with the assignment but I didn’t ask

I watched and walked

Fell... and I thought I would never stop falling

But my mom caught me

And taught me

How we continue

A mess means that we were here

Soap and water

Get a towel and clean it up

Pour another bowl

And give the dog some ice cream too

It’s summer and we have long days

To laugh through

Continuing--

Is my way of honoring what Angelica,

Jackie, her great-granddaughter Jackie,

My Nana, her daughter Viviana,

Bernadette, Alagidi, Laleh, 

Octavia, her children Anyanwu, Lauren,

Bia, Toni, Markie, Frankie,

Sylvia, Audre, bell, Major,

And the moon

taught me

And of making it clear for my moonchildren

That we continue

Because we come from people who choose life

We rise in the morning and love all day

We dream of the stars

We are the stars

But what happens when my heart hurts -- really hurts

When the world hurts me 

my moonchild asks me (himself? God?)

Broken hearts are not split milk,

Broken hearts hurt all year long

Well,

I think back to my mom and

My heart

Remembers learning this prayer too

The prayer I learned to offer

When I don't know if I have anything else 

To offer

Continue--

To feel and breathe and continue

To know our hearts turn inward to heal

To follow your heart

To lay down, to sleep on the bus ride

To be with what needs to be 

For a minute (human time, not clock)

I’ll wait here

And then,

To find what we need to continue

Is it food (we can find food)

Is it love (I am loving)

Is it a prayer (because I have one to teach you)

j. gia loving