Enough!
I can no longer watch the news.
Reporting catastrophe 
And catastrophe to come.

My heart is worn out 
With borrowed distress 
And requisite panic
And inevitable dissolution

And the ones who claim to save me
Only send me further into the abyss
Feeding me fear and guilt
And hopelessness

The monster has come out of the closet
And seated itself beside me on the sofa
It is picking its teeth,
Having fed itself upon my soul

The powers that be 
Seem all too powerful ...
But are they?
The whisper of that very question
Brings a breath of hope.

When I think that I must save it all – 
Democracy, my nation, my community
And, of course, my privileged place within it
My arms are much too small.

But when I remember 
That my friends are here beside me, still
Their presence holds my heart
And their eyes speak tender affection.

They remind me that the furor around me 
Cannot steal my capacity 
To share beauty and laughter and love
Or even to share comfort and grief

And it is 
Enough. 

Image by Jeremy Brooks retrieved from Flickr per cc 2.0