a prayer for those in devastation and grief and overwhelming loss

just pray.
for those who are nameless.
for those whose homes and cars and cities
have been destroyed...
by water and wind
and so much more.

you see the flattened store,
comet and batteries and canned fruit
strewn on the floor.
pray, pray, pray
for that mother,
that contractor,
the child in the shopping cart...
terrorized,
or worse,
missing,
or killed.

just pray
for the elderly couple
who are homeless,
you see their home-just the roof--
the rest is surrounded by water.
oh pray.            
and cry, too, with them, if you wish.

oh, the wildlife, too...
remember them, this spring season of
baby rabbits,
and chicks in nests,
and the domestic animals too,
the calves and the cattle,
the farm dog,
bewildered and lost....

so much devastation.
pray for strength, and hope against hope.

oh dear God in your mercy.
Hear these prayers...
hear these prayers...
and carry them as tiny slivers of light
to those who are engulfed and trapped
in devastation
in grief
in overwhelming loss.

In your mercy,
in your mercy,
hear our prayers.
amen.