Lets imagine..

Your a grandparent now and you get to tell a story

Young ears are listening

There’s a lump in your throat

Remembering

The people who marched in the streets

Their numbers making history

Division on every tv

Social media was deceiving

More AI than connection

Another child lost protection

and no one was stopping

Palestine

Congo

Sandy Hook

Alcatraz

Why does the list have to go on so fast..

Your face wrinkles deep

in the creases left from sorrow

But there is hope to be found

Because you didn’t let it make you sour

You remembered the power

Of love.

You let the anger

The disgust

Fuel

The need for more love

The need for more compassion

The need for more kindness

You remembered that you can’t heal anger

With more anger

You can’t fight a wildfire

With more fire

And that sometimes the answer

Was to have tea with your neighbor

Ask grandma how to garden

Slow down

Deep breath

Make your own bread in the oven.

Bringing the tired new mom

Warm broth in her bed.

Letting so many tears be shed.

Masks and viruses

Were rampant and wild

A park day seemed scary for a long while

And then you remembered

The earth is healing

Bare feet need the grasses

There’s magic in music

There’s power in the dances.

Things were testing and dark

And they left their mark

The grief like a stone

You feel in your pocket

Or the wrinkles etched deep

Next to your sockets

But you’ve shown the young listener

It’s a matter of heart.

You never let anger

Or fear

Tear you apart.

There’s a bigger mission

To give a better future

To the ones who come next

So

Ego stays still

But we never forget.