wonders never cease in poetry

even in these times of hate and fear
when the bridges of freedom seem to crumble
as the walls of suffering rise at the edges
there will be… moments
there will still be moments
there will still be little jubilations
there will be joys that feel like miracles if you squint
don’t let the bastards take them too

set a safe keep in your heart
where the bigots and the profiteers can’t touch you
that the killers and the businessmen can’t burn down
even in the midst of an apocalypse
you will still be living day to day as well
and there will still be wonders to behold
the cowards and the preachers and the hatemongers
will try to take these from you too
as they try to take the world from us
they want to worry you blind
they want to absorb you in the tumult
so they can break you utterly
so you’re too joyless to properly fight back

set a safe keep in your heart
for the little things that are still wonderful
for the intersections that are still amazing
even as we stumble into war
even as we tumble toward the dark
these are the lights that will fuel you further
this is the trail of breadcrumbs you can follow back
when we have won
if you let the worry kill the little joys
the motherfuckers and the fascists will have won twice
you cannot let them to this
set a safe keep
still find happiness in the places where it still can bloom

I talked to my shut-in uncle Wednesday
for about an hour with my grandmother
his mental illness made it so he
hadn’t spoken more than half a sentence at a time
to another human being in near on thirty years
but Wednesday I sat around a Christmas tree
with my uncle and grandmother
and caught him up on everything I am now
and learned little stories about the past
and that little orange nazi goblin in his castle
cannot take it from me
I have that moment in this
fucking sea of troubles
to warm me in the safe keep of my heart

don’t let them take the little moments
don’t let the bastards beat you twice
and a little by and by
we will take even their first
fraudulent victory back
if you can hold on
to the safe keep in your heart

Saturday my little brother eloped
just up and eloped with his lady
in a chapel by the sea in northern California
called us up on New Years Eve to tell us the good news
my little baby brother’s a married man now
by the beach in Monterrey
and all the trumped-up fascists in the world
can’t take that away

even as these existential horrors bloom
stretch out for the sun and blossom
little flowers of doom
here’s hoping the miracles will grow
in equal or greater opposition to them
even in the deepest depths
will wonders ever cease
do wonders ever cease
no, wonders never cease
wonders never cease

Last updated January 01, 2017