cultivating hope
how to counter
that burned-out feeling
hollowed and cratered
and smoldering sulfur
how to raze the ruins
that’ve laid waste to your acreage
that puff black smoke
with each footfall
where to put the melted
twisted metal detritus
the toxic conglomerate
of how we once lived
how to make space for new ways
when dangerous wreckage
demands all your attention
all your reserves
each day there’s too much to do
to corral devastation
too much at risk
all the stakes are too high
the earth is too frozen
to lay our backs to this January
we can’t breathe in green warmth
and fall up into sky
but, it’s going to take more than just rage
and more than demands
more than a reckoning
and not less than love
how else can we cultivate
a new way of being
besides sowing/sewing it
singing it joyfully
believing audaciously
daring to hope
pushing our tired hands
deep into scarred soil
not giving up
until something green grows
