Between Prayer & Spell

A reflection on intention, return, and the wisdom in my mother’s tongue.

Some words are not meant to be shouted.
They belong in the hush —
between prayer and spell —
where the heart’s intention moves quietly through the unseen.

This piece was born from one of my mother’s sayings,
a truth carried in Vietnamese that feels different in the mouth
and heavier in the soul:

"Nợ tình yêu, sẽ trả bằng tình yêu.
Nếu bạn nợ nỗi đau, sẽ trả bằng nỗi đau."

To owe love will be repaid in love.
To owe pain will be repaid in pain.

It is the wisdom she left in my keeping,
and the compass that guided these words.

There are words you do not speak in daylight.
They are meant for the hush between heartbeats,
for the space between prayer and spell.

I release them tonight —
not for vengeance,
but for balance.
For the quiet law that what we send out
will pass through the universe and the unseen
before it returns.

My mother’s voice still walks beside me:
"Nợ tình yêu, sẽ trả bằng tình yêu.
Nếu bạn nợ nỗi đau, sẽ trả bằng nỗi đau."

This is a piece born from that vow.

Some truths are not ours to enforce.
We release them,
trusting the universe and the unseen
to shape what comes next.

I do not know where my words will travel,
or whose hands they will pass through along the way.
I only know they leave me with purpose,
and will return —
in whatever form is meant.

With Grace & Ink,

Mai