Peace to those who are leaving everything on the field.
Peace to those who could not even drag themselves to the field.
Peace to the disillusioned.
Peace to the disenfranchised.
Peace to the disaffiliated.
Peace to those who are all in.
Peace to the reluctant.
Peace to those left out.
Peace to those pushed out.
Peace to the spiritually homeless.
Peace to the sick.
Peace to the dying.
Peace to those who love someone who is sick or dying.
Peace to the doctors and nurses.
Peace to the teachers and the students.
Peace to those having trouble sleeping.
Peace to those who woke with hearts pounding.
Peace to this particular day, this particular morning, and your particular presence in this world.
Peace to the news coming from our televisions, our computers, our phones.
Peace to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Peace to those waiting in line.
Peace to the volunteers.
Peace to the number-crunchers.
Peace to those who are praying.
Peace to those who are lighting candles.
Peace to those with every finger crossed.
Peace to the things that aren't getting done today, because we're a little bit distracted.
Peace to the trees and the birds outside
which keep resolutely preparing for winter
but sing, & flash brightly in the sun
the whole while
Peace as the sky (here) fades to pastels and then black.
Peace as the night of unknowing begins.
Peace to your coping mechanisms.
Peace to the places you carry this stress in your body.
Peace to each deep, slow breath, to big, sad sighs, & to sudden inhales when you didn’t even realize you’d been holding your breath.
Peace to the belly-flips of excitement and despair.
Peace to those who are alone tonight.
Peace to those who are tiptoeing around each other in the same house.
Peace to those who are trying to hold things together in front of their children.
Peace to those who are tired but afraid to go to sleep.
Peace to those who feel like they have been exhausted forever.
Peace and rest to all tonight.
(See you in the morning)
Peace to the confused this morning.
Peace to the overwhelmed.
Peace to the determined.
Peace to the angry.
Peace to those who are absorbing everyone else’s emotions in addition to their own.
Peace to the journalists.
Peace to the activists.
Peace to those who are trying to focus on work today.
Peace to those who are trying to focus on their kids today.
Peace to those who are trying to focus on making art today.
Peace to those who are cooking and cleaning to try to feel like they have control over something.
Peace to those who are fighting to stay awake, and those who have gone back to sleep.
Peace to those who managed to walk away from the news for awhile.
Peace under another pastel sky, another late afternoon of watching and waiting.
Peace to the falling dark, another night of unknowing, though different from last night.
Peace to the still anxious, the still afraid, the still terrified.
Peace to those who are allowing themselves to hope.
Peace to the second night of deciding how late to stay up.
Peace to those waking up after two nights of restless sleep.
Peace those who haven’t slept.
Peace to those trying to teach this morning.
Peace to those in pain this morning.
Peace to those who have no idea how they're going to get everything done.
Peace to those who are hopeful, and those who are afraid to hope.
Peace to the vote-counters.
Peace to the lawyers.
Peace, still, to those who are sick, and those who are worried about them.
Peace to those who are reeling from bad news.
Peace to those with seasonal depression, whose bodies have begun to notice the early nights.
Peace to recovering alcoholics & struggling alcoholics, recovering addicts & struggling addicts. Peace to those who have given up smoking. Peace to those trying to cope with all this stress without their most-reached-for coping mechanism.
Peace to those with mental illness.
Peace to those who just want a good night’s sleep.
Peace to the last, long stretch.
Peace to those who are holding their breath.
Peace to those who are weeping.
Peace to those who are rejoicing.
Peace to those who are grieving.
Peace to those who feel betrayed.
Peace to those who have so many contradictory emotions it seems impossible for your body to hold them all.
Peace to those who are getting a little loopy from fatigue and stress.
Peace to those who feel anything but peaceful
the terrified, the timid & tearful
angry, those with an axe to grind
a complaint to file, a never to mind
Peace to those who are deep in sorrow
distraught, unable to face tomorrow
peace to the lonely, bereft & unwilling
peace to you & everything you’re feeling
Thank you for holding this space with me, everyone. 💙 Go in peace.
Okay, here’s a funny story. When I was making the index for this new book, I wrote down hope as one of the categories. But after I had gone through almost all the benedictions I realized I had only categorized one as hope. (1/4)
That seemed like an oversight to me, so I started looking at them again. And I realized it wasn’t that none of them were about hope, but more that all of them were about hope, but not in a direct, imperative way. None of them say, “Be hopeful!“ (2/4)
But hey are about being real & acknowledging pain w/out letting that be the end of the story. Hope is in the edges of each poem, in the soft space between the lines, in the freedom to feel what you feel without judgment & bring the whole of yourself forward into the next moment.