Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable.
—The Wizard of Oz
Give me a heart that breaks,
a heart that longs to open
wider and wider, always revealing
more space. Give me hands
that long to serve. Make them strong
enough to build what must be built.
Make them fall in love with letting go.
Make them unable to hurt. Give me a mind
that leans toward generosity. A tongue
that speaks in only we. Feet that run
toward those in need. Eyes
that see beneath the masks. Ears
that hear the silence
that is the staff for every sound. A nose
that follows the fragrance of truth.
Blood the same red as everyone else’s.
And give me a heart that breaks again
and again, the way ocean waves
break, unpredictable, an endless
breaking, an endless release,
in which nothing is ever really lost,
in which we are found.
“A tongue that speaks in only we”? Oue! Oue!
I recently posted this exact quote at work for Quote of the Day. Now, this poem… It’s tipped me finally into realizing that perhaps the Wizard was being honest, not indicting. All the elements and qualities you’ve listed, not a one of ’em is practical—and thank the glories that be for that! Why settle for practically living? “I don’t want to be saved; I want to be spent.” -Fritz Perls
“…the silence that is the _staff_ for every sound”? Did your fingers mean, “stuff”? Or are we speaking of musical staves?
“Broken open, not down.” -Jude Janett
I meant musical staves … But it wasn’t clear, eh? I wondered … I will work on that. I love love that Jude Janett quote. She said it to me in a parking lot as I wept … Oh how I love that woman.
Isn’t it curious, that a heart that breaks would be seen as longing to open by a different standard, one of hurt that heals by opening even more. And I like that comparison of breaking to the ocean’s waves.
Stunningly beautiful.
Thanks dear Jim … So many hugs to you, you who know well the art of breaking