We carried this

There will be a pain that some of us are forced to carry

There will be a time that it becomes too much

And the way forward seems difficult to find

There will be a time that it becomes

Completely impossible for us

To remind ourselves

Of our own goodness

When our confusion over the ways of the world

May tempt us to blame ourselves

And yes we played a part

That much is true

And often the hurt given

Was not intended

Was only misunderstanding

And to hurt over it

Over and over and over again

Becomes the most painful and sorrowful way to live

So it is we must seek joy

In the tender and grace filled things

Today it was a magpie that drew close to me

Then opened its throat to sing

And this bought a smile to me

A warmth to my heart

Sometimes it is an act of kindness

But sadly

Lately

These seem exceedingly rare

And so we try to live

And say no to the pain

That wants to feed on life

Because to allow it to lay claim to us

Is a killing game

And isn’t it time for us to

Love

To live

To celebrate joy

To choose something better

Giving all of the love we can to ourselves

And to the world?

Choosing to drop instead

This heavy burden

We carried