We are pieces and parts,
particles and bits,
scattered like broken
seashells and seagrass
on a spread of beach sand;
each life tossed, storied,
too many discarded,
disregarded and left
to the gulls for picking.
So often we miss —
in our anxious living
— our connection
across the sand:
grain by grain, the very
stuff of which we’re made
making us one:
your brokenness
and mine together.
Praying for the parts and pieces that are Gaza and Israel, Ukraine and Russia, children at borders and children in our hometowns, families and friends of those who died on MH17 as well as those who shot the plane from the sky, the citizens of Detroit and the citizens of Iran, teachers and school administrators, judges and lawyers and plaintiffs and defendants, IRS and #IamJada, loved ones and strangers, and all of the particles and bits that are you and me.