A Prayer Of Responsibility Poem by Delilah Miller

The sun rose and echoed through my white curtains.
The flags above my bed say
'Om Mani Pad-me Hum'
In the warm light,
I want a miracle from a sun ray,
chanting the song of compassion.

Blue, white, red, green, yellow flags
seem to suggest compassion
is not free from organization
or an escape from the routines and name tags.
Compassion is concretely a prayer of responsibility.

Bear the cross, say the chant, turn the other cheek
because the last shall be the first
to turn to the last and offer the endless chant
(to the unwilling, they offer a curse) .
Om Mani Pad-me Hum,
spoken into my first real miraculous morning.