Words

When I have lost the words
that tell me who I am,
then visit me in silence, Lord,
and write for me my name.

And when I cannot speak 
to call you in my fear,
look down and see me in my need;
without a sound, draw near.

For you know all my thoughts
before I have the words
as I have known my children's wants:
Come mother me, my Lord,

and hold me to your breast
when all I held is lost.
So wordlessly croon me to rest,
your arms about me crossed.

O Christ, the Word of God,
if I should speak no more,
then be me for me the sounding word 
that praises and implores.

And if my heart is stone,
oh, give it voice to cry:
Let it be just your name alone
resounding to the sky.

Created 1408 by Andrej Rublëv. By Anonymous Russian icon painter (before 1917)Public domain image (according to PD-RusEmpire) – http://www.icon-art.info/masterpiece.php?lng=ru&mst_id=136, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1579041