I want to give you the alphabet
and every syllable and punctuation and exclamation mark
I want to build you a stage out of the bones
dying to get out from under my skin
and watch you make the world a better place
a softer and safer place
I’ve seen you do it before
and I know I will watch you do it again

there is nothing more beautifully alive
than when you are up there on the stage
a slight tremor in your voice
as your hand trembles
holding that piece of paper in your hand
and with all the fury of nature you exhale

your heart comes flying out
and fills the room with such a gentle warmth
that it feels like a Christmas snow is falling outside
and the fire place is crackling and popping
and snapping inside all of us
and the hot cocoa is just about cooled off enough to drink
and we drink it all in

every painful truth you paint from your inside
every broken bone of your past
all the heartache in the ghost of the tears that haunt your cheeks
the madness in your sanity of pushing
and shaping your dreams into a better future
where everyone is loved for who they are
no matter who they are
and everyone can love who they love
no matter who they love
and kindness is the only rule anyone follows
and for every one person that has a hungry mouth
their are two people not just willing but eager
to cook a meal for the belly at the bottom of that mouth
and no one is homeless
because everyones heart has opened up
into something much bigger than a fist
and there is no stranger too strange
that we cannot invite them into our homes
and help them find their feet
and give them a pillow and place to lay their head
and all the cogs in the machines of war and industry
have been melted down
and minted into pennies for the wishing well
and everyone gets a turn to wish
and every wish comes true

now everyone
everyone do me a favor
put your hand over your chest
do you feel that?
That electricity
that booming thunder
that thing keeping you alive

that heart

that heart is you
and in that heart is the universe
with the power of every star shining at night  
and the heat of every burning sun throughout the day
and the song of every named and unnamed moon
do you feel it
do you feel how we are all connected
how we all need each other

how that heart
how that universe is part of us all

how we all belong
we all belong to the here and now