I wrote this poem at a time in my life when I was terrified of the future. I was terrified that one day, I would wake up and realize that I absolutely hated where I was in my life.

But that in itself—the act of hating my life—wasn’t what terrified me.

What terrified me most was that I would wake up and realize I hated my life, and then not find the courage to do anything about it. I was terrified that I would continue to buy into society’s expectations for the rest of my life instead of living the way I wanted to live—wild, free and in the moment.

So the title identifies this poem as what it is: a prayer.

This is a prayer for the way I want to live my life—belonging to nobody and nothing but the earth and myself. This is a prayer that we all live in a way that is true to who we are.

we dance amidst the waves so high
lining the horizon with milky foam
and the deep blue of a water that goes on forever, down into the soul of the earth.

we steep our minds
in the inherent divinity of things now ended
dried roses, curled and brittle-leaved, statuesque in Death’s embrace.

we laugh joyously
sprawled deliciously across viridian valleys
carved through dragon-spine ridges of proud-standing mountains.

we curl our toes into rich brown earth
silken and damp
and taste the sweet summer rain in our lungs.

our souls do not shatter
like delicate moonbeams on cement
but melt softly between windblown blades of green as they ought.

we belong to no man
we belong to no city
we walk the infinite shores, free in our wildness
and our eternities stretch to the sea.

we live breathlessly.

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Relephant Read:

A Grounding Prayer for the Autumn Equinox.

3 Buddhist tips for living life:  

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Author: Makenna Elizabeth Ash

Editor: Toby Israel

Photo: Shan Sheehan/Flickr // Shan Sheehan/Flickr

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