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A Prayer for Running Fast
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God,
Keep us this day
A helicopter crash in Ukraine
Kills civilians
But then it is a war at home
Battlefields lost their discretion
Long ago
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There are fires
In my area
With human loss
And then materials
House fires
Are fearful to contemplate
To see
To hear the testimony
On the news
Of loss
And victims
Who are hurt
Who die
Who die later on
Because house fires have consequences
Changing life
After what happens now
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There are changes
Some by force
We can blame nature
Or each other
The neighborhood beneath the bridge
Is ending
By the hands of institutions
Other hands will help
With the newly homeless
So that there will be
Breathing out
That problem resolved,
We’ll say for now
Then think about other things
Quickening
Our palates
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So what do we care about?
What happens to ourselves
That’s natural
Our reaching toward
The plight
Or the good news
Of others
That is an instinct
From an impulse
God-given trait
Or capacity
We train
And practice
Like a discipline
Like any discipline
Run fast?
Care for others
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Be a coach
Be a pal
You are sovereign
God of gods and
Lord of the self-styled lords
You are our king
Our queen
Allegiance
And tribute
Are ours to give
To pledge from our own knowing
And our gifting
And yet you’ll turn around
To teach us
And provide
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It is a mystery
A frustrating mystery
Of labor
Sweat
And drops of blood
Each day
In all our stations
And yet we ask
In all our stations
Be with us
Start and close the day with us
Talk with us
Provide
Not as a tontine
Not as prophecy
But like love notes
Or neighbors come to coffee
And to be with us
When we stumble
Or when
Dear things
Dear lives
Must crash
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C L Couch
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Photo by Bruno Nascimento on Unsplash
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Ukraine’s interior minister among at least 14 killed in helicopter crash
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