I pray for my neighbor
who is violent toward his wife
I pray for my so-called political enemies
who in truth are not so different from me

I pray for my family
I pray for the strangers I will never know
and for the people I know all too well

I pray to something
I am not always sure I believe in

I pray to be free of tribal thinking
to see beyond duality
though I know that work lasts a lifetime

I pray, and I pray, and I pray

And in the end
I kiss the rosary that once belonged to my father
the only thing I carried from his house when he died

I wonder if he ever prayed these same prayers
and simply never told me