Holding the Contradictions

The last weeks, I have struggled with the
  contradictions that now define life in the U.S.

My son puts an offer on his first home.
  trump celebrates his big, ugly betrayal of America.
  My granddaughter sings in her first theater show.
  SCOTUS acts as trump's henchman, destroying the U.S.
  My friends move into a new, accessible home.

All in a day.

I want so to walk the path to which Spirit invites me.
  It is paved with love, compassion, hope, reverence for life.

And yet, anger, disgust, a growing distrust, flood my soul,
  infecting it with a darkness, bile, exhaustion.

Then I am reminded that is exactly what they want!

  They want to destroy my soul so that they can take it all.

  They are counting on that.

Yes, they carry the money, the power, and now the army.

  But, they don't have my soul, or my heart, or my promise,

  or my future.

So, today we mourn this, our 149 birthday.

  In the U.S., we fly the flag upside down to say

  'We are in distress.'  My flag flies upside down.

And, I play America, the Beautiful from my window.

  

I hold the contradiction of watching authoritarians

  tighten their grasp on this country

  even as I dream about the potential of our future.

Because, see, it is We, the People who are

  the potential of our future.

  It always was.

  It is now.

  It will always be...

  us, the U.S., the people.