Pry Me Off Dead Center - Ted Lode

[Larry Robinson]

Pry Me Off Dead Center


O persistent God,

Deliver me from assuming your mercy is gentle.

Pressure me that I may grow more human

not through the lessening of my struggles

but through an expansion of them

that will undamn me and unbury my gifts.

Deepen my hurt

until I learn to share it

and myself openly and my needs honestly

Sharpen my fears

until I name them and release the power I have locked in them

and they in me.

Accentuate my confusion

until I shed those grandiose expectations

that divert me from the small, glad gifts

of the now and the here and the me.

Expose my shame where it shivers,

crouched behind the curtains of propriety,

until I can laugh at last

through my common frailties and failures

laugh my way toward becoming whole.

Deliver me

from just going through the motions

and wasting everything I have

which is today,

a chance,

a choice,

my creativity,

your call.

O persistent God,

Let how much it all matters

Pry me off dead center

So if I am moved inside

to tears

or sighs

or screams

or smiles

or dreams,

they will be real and I will be in touch with who I am

and who you are

and who my sisters and brothers are.

	- Ted Lode