Where I Learned To Pray Again

I left the words they gave me
The ones that asked me to disappear
I kept the quiet questions
And the faith that stayed right here

I stopped begging for forgiveness
From rooms that never heard my name
And slowly, in the silence
I learned how to pray again

Not on my knees in fear
Not asking to be changed
But standing in my body
Calling love by its real name

This is where I learned to pray again
Without shame, without disguise
If God is anything at all
He lives behind my eyes

I don't lower my head in terror
I don't hide my desire
I pray by staying honest
I pray by staying alive

I've felt the sacred in your laughter
In the way my breath slows down
In love that doesn't ask permission
In truth that doesn't make a sound

I don't need walls or altars
To know I'm not alone
The miracle is staying present
In this body, in this tone

I used to think belief was distance
Something far above my skin
Now faith feels like attention
To the life I'm living in

This is where I learned to pray again
No fear written in my chest
If heaven needs my silence
It will have to wait

I don't trade love for approval
I don't bleed to be forgiven
I pray by loving who I am
And letting that be enough

If there is a voice that made me
It never asked me to disappear

This is where I learned to pray again
With my hands open wide
If God is love without conditions
Then I'm already inside

I don't kneel to be smaller
I stand to stay aligned
This is where I learned to pray again
By loving my own life

This is where I learned to pray again
With my hands open wide
If God is love without conditions
Then I'm already inside

I don't kneel to be smaller
I stand to stay aligned
This is where I learned to pray again
By loving my own life

Amen
Not spoken
Felt