Instead of viewing
Each other with
Hatred and suspicion,
They consciously decide
To sit down and
Share their stories,
Each side learning about the other,
Walls coming down
Through mutual understanding,
Shared humanity,
Empathy superseding blame,
Treating fellow human beings
With kindness and love,
Healing the hurt.
It’s been hard
These last few years,
Not much to celebrate.
She walks down the
Icy street, careful
Not to slip.
The frigid wind
Penetrates her coat,
Increasing her discomfort.
When will things change?
She wonders,
The same struggle day after day.
Approaching a homeless person,
She offers a five-dollar bill
And a smile.
Sitting in the airport,
It dawns on him
That he needs to stop
Trying to be someone
He’s not,
Move beyond the persona
He’s carefully devised
To avoid facing his fears and
Pursuing his dreams.
He hears the boarding call
As he walks away.
A blossom
Doesn’t care about
Anything other than
Being a flower.
Beautiful.
Someone comes
Along and deems it
Inadequate,
Frightening,
Unimportant,
Strangles it.
The plant lies
Dormant,
Anticipating
Another day.
She spends
Most of her time
Cleaning the house
And preparing food
For everyone else.
Once in a while
She’s permitted to
Go do the shopping
At the market and come
Straight back home.
Her brothers go off
To school each day,
She watches them
Longingly from
The window.
Sometime before she
Turns eighteen,
She will
Be promised to
A stranger.
They assert
The world will
Always be the same,
Will never change,
That people will
Invariably be the way
They have always been.
Pessimistic myopia
Asserted by dreamless
Sorts who have been
Hurt at some point and
Cannot trust that
There is still abundant
Kindness in the world.
Insist you can’t
Make things better,
And you’ll perpetuate
The familiar suffering,
Believe you can
Change the world,
And you will.
Don’t avoid me,
Assuming I’m
Different from you,
Trying to hurt you.
Talk with me instead about
How we can work together,
Fix what needs fixing,
Solve what needs solving.
As rivals we compete,
As friends we build
A new world
We both enjoy.
Little by little, one by one,
He lost most of his friends, family,
Acquaintances, associates, and
Countless others who called him
Friend, son, brother, colleague,
Companion, kindred spirit.
The rain fell in a grey monotone.
He stared out the window at the
Heavy pines. Opening the sash,
He took in the fresh, wild, charged
Atmosphere that filled his lungs
And mingled with his joy.
A cluster of cubicles girdling
Many dreams. Methodical, mechanical,
Ordered, contained, managed
Minds focused on the completion of
Dire duties, sublimated creativity.
A voyage, perhaps to some beautiful
Destination unblemished by rules or rigidity.
Potential unfettered, possibilities
Countless. Roam wherever, whenever,
Destination unconsidered, inconsequential.
