I shall seek this joy of living in the
small spaces of this tiny well-lived life,
and I shall decide to hold on to that which
creates, brings together, offers sacred
communion with others, attended by warmth
and regard, and I choose to stand in this feeling
of longing for the whole against the forces
that fragment, destroy, cut away belonging
like a child untimely ripped from a mother’s womb,
like it is a cost that can really be paid.

I shall sharpen my wit on this whetstone of care,
but not like a sword, more like a memory,
a feeling, a vision for a future woven in hope,
clarified, focused, regained, retained,
and I will not allow the purveyors of hate
to cut away that which is precious, fully human,
embodied in a person unique, divine, in the essence
of a life worth living—no, I will resist with voice
mechanisms of destruction and bring from myself
the good, the joy, the connection from these
small spaces faithfully tended that can
grow large enough to hold the entire world.

 

3/10/2026