That Word

Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash

#70 — At #100, I think it might be time to go back and revise some of the earlier breaths. Dear Ones, which were your favorites? What would you like to see get some more time and attention?

Today is all about words.

In the last year of my country I have learned:

To murder humans as an act of compassion

To deliver shame as an act of mercy

To hold back the ones who are striving as an act of discernment

To keep oneself locked away as an act of empowerment

Words don’t mean what we think they mean—

there must be some unchangeable adamantine

behind these sounds we make to one another —

and yet —

We think love means weapon and

tenderness means ripe for the taking.

We think arrogance means intelligence and

mercy means stupidity.

We think knowledge means oppression and

snarling attack means passion.

Beloveds

meet me in a place without language.

Sit with me underneath this tulip poplar.

Let the tiny green crickets roam

from your hand to my hand and back again.

Resist the urge to name what you see —

simply tell me,

in the way your eyes close as a cool breeze touches you,

what holds your battered soul together.