Warm summer day –
hearing a sound,
walking to the screen door
to the broad, open porch:
“Anybody there?”
Late in the evening –
darkness falling,
something stirring
outside the house:
“Anybody there?”
Wakening suddenly –
from dream,
from solid sleep,
nothing obvious
but startled, alone:
“Anybody there?”
For those caught in disaster –
flood, fire, hurricane,
tsunami, earthquake,
war:
“Anybody there?”
For those caught in despair –
loss of loved ones,
loneliness,
addictions,
victims of abuse:
“Anybody there?”
Perhaps especially in prayers –
from words in a Holy Book,,
in words from our hearts,
some times in pain,
in fear, in regret,
some times even in hope:
“Anybody there?”
A voice to answer,
a hand, a face,
a bandage,
a meal, a connection,
a listening,
even just a companion:
“Over here, over here.”
