I.
Pakistani girl walking to school
Syrian family fleeing the unimaginable
Lebanese nurse going to work
Lebanese father waiting for coffee
Student, everywhere at once, leading
demanding, becoming, better leaders
Each new voice saying #BlackLivesMatter
Muslim security guard saving a stadium of people
French death metal concert goer and the wife praying for you
Blood-spattered child covering your head, crouching low
fleeing a school shooter. Parent whole-body pressed against a chain link fence
willing life to your heart, your world, on the other side
Slave
Bullied gay man
Harassed transgender woman
Korean government protester
Wounded and weeping Palestinian family
Haitian woman reimagining rubble into art and faith into school supplies
Drone victim
Arab Spring protestor
Occupy Wall Street tent dweller
Sobbing Kenyan university student
Man crossing a dangerous border
crossing an imaginary line
risking death for your family
Homeless vet
Old woman and man standing together in the rain
protesting corruption and greed behind the war
Neighbor who just lost your daughter
Neighbor who just lost your wife
Mother losing her mind
Citizen, voter saying enough, digging deeper, learning more
changing yourself in the face of overwhelming pressure and fear and outrage
Austerity sufferer
Factory-farmed animal and fish
Pipeline, wage, climate, environment, and freedom protestor
Earthquake, tsunami, wildfire, illness, rape survivor
And the one who didn’t survive
Police officer, soldier, government employee,
journalist, religious leader, politician, guard,
academic, teacher, and healer
trying to protect, to do the right thing
trying to live a just and kindness-filled life
trying to fight despair and growing anger within
inside a massive old system that gives you precious little time for it…
II.
I am breathing more deeply with you
your whole earth, your whole sky, your whole soil, your whole water
loves you
I love you
don’t think that the mass media
–controlled by a handful of humans, no matter where we are–
or social media
represents a whole truth here on Mother Earth
or means anything more
than a handful of sand tossed into the ocean
if it forgets you
You are not forgotten.
You are not forgotten.
Every breath. Every experience. Every tear. Matter.
Matter far more than we can know.
Our ears tune to a wider frequency
beyond technology, beyond religion, beyond ideas
of right and wrong and good and bad
I look to my own heart
the physical one
feel it beat
the emotional one
notice that heart connect to the pain of so many others
I feel the frequency of heartbreaks these days
I feel the earth cracking us wide open
I look at the list for whom my heart breaks today
just today. just right now.
and marvel at its infinite capacity
hearts around the world
are breaking for each other now
hearts around the world
hold yours within theirs now
touch your heart
feel it beating
that is my heart
sit on the soil
look at the sky,
feel the breeze
hear and smell the neighborhood
that is my body
III.
your heart
oh your heart, dearest one
is the heart of a whole planet
your tears fall upon our crops
investing in shared futures
your laughter lifts our spirits
a salve upon our now
blessed are the forgotten
only we know for certain
I Love You is a wider frequency