Malleable as Clay – a poem by Alena Casey

Malleable as Clay

Lord, give me the heart to hear stories,
a softened heart, malleable as clay,
open as the sky,
deep as a cleft in the rock.
May their pain pour like lava,
course like the blood of a volcano.
May my heart melt to receive it.

Lord, give me the ears to hear the words
that other humans speak,
for we all blunder blindly,
and cannot hear for the clatter of knocking over
the block towers of our lives.

May I listen.
May their words fall like rain on the earth
and cause lilies and magnolias
to lift their heads.

Alena Casey is a poet, writer, and mother of four from Indiana. Her poem won first place in the Society of Classical Poets 2023 Haiku Competition. Her poems have also been published with The Road Not Taken, Heart of Flesh Literary Journal, and The Author’s Journal of Inventive Literature, among others. She can be found at strivingafterink.wordpress.com.