quiet sympathy

words fall
from my teeth
words fail
this moment,
your anguish,
our language
words feel
inadequate
code for something

caught between
the folds of my brain
feverish desire to heal

I want to offer
you some act, some gift
prayer to an
agnostic God
elegy in
invisible ink
whispered oratory
on the unfairness of it all

clumsy helpless
before your grief
I wish you strength
I wish you peace