dare we? (Pentecost - A)

hesitant enough
to whisper your name,
   much less tell any one
   of your presence in us:
         dare we ask for
         tongues of boldness?

our hearts
fatigued by
   the cancer of poverty,
   the fears crouching in
                the shadows,
   the children wandering
                our streets:
         dare we ask for
         a transplant of
            compassion?

souls numbed
   by broken lives
   and shattered dreams,
grace iceberged
   by the chill of our culture:
         dare we ask for
         just the smallest
                     spark
         to engulf us?

dare we hope
      dare we dance
dare we yield
      dare we dive
      into your red-hot
              love
   so we can live?

(c) 2014 Thom M. Shuman