Silent Prayer

Soundless Breath

When clear, cold wind
brushes past my cheek and wakes me,
a prayer begins in the chest
and rises back to the heart.

Bare, empty branches
stretch both hands towards the sky,
already becoming a prayer—
quiet, yet deeply earnest.

The frozen ground,
having gathered every sound,
lies sealed in silence.
Traces of tears are covered with snow,
emotions gently laid to rest.

My chilled lungs
with every breath out and in
linger in the cold air,
and become a prayer of silence.

Winter knows this:
that my soundless cry,
sent high into the heavens,
can still reach God.

As busyness fades away
and everything cools to white,
this silent prayer shaped like winter
finds that my very being
is enough.

*these are my own paintings *