one year

"One year you come back. One year."
I need to go back; I can't stay here forever.
Those girls need people to love them.
I need those girls.
They have brought me to tears too many times.
Tears on their account, not on my own.
Tears that flow because theirs can't anymore.
They have brought me to my knees in prayer.
Prayers that they don't know how to pray.
Prayers that I, myself, can't always pray.
My heart has broken for them.
Broken because theirs are too broken to break again.
Broken because I love them.
Yes I love them.
The ex-prostitutes.
Because of their pasts.
Because of their hope.
Because of their kindness.
Because of their devotion.
Because of their smiles.
Their beautiful smiles as they say to me,
"One year you come back."