Blessed are the Mirrors

Art holds my sadness,
presses it gently into color and form,
whispering—this, too, belongs.

I trace the lines, carve the shape,
and somewhere between the ink and the ache,
God meets me.

I have been searching
for a place to set my grief down,
for hands that do not rush to fix
but simply say—stay as long as you need.

My mother’s hands knew this language,
the quiet offering of space,
a door always open,
a meal always warm.
Love, not in answers, but in presence.

So I open my hands too,
to the strangers who write,
to the voices that tremble,
to the ones told their pain is too much,
too heavy, too loud—
I say, no, not here.

Here, you are free to ask.
Here, you are free to feel.
Here, your sorrow is not a burden
but a story still unfolding.

And maybe, in the in-between,
in the weeping over paper,
in the quiet touch of light against loss,
I see what I could not before—

That we are all mirrors,
holding each other up to the light,
seeing, for the first time,
that we are radiant.

Based on Kate C. Bowler, Everything Happens Season 5 Episode 21
https://katebowler.com/podcasts/morgan-harper-nichols-blessed-are-the-mirrors/