Broken Hearted

Your weekly inspiration for action:

A new tragedy or outrage strikes.  First I am shocked.  Then I “hide.”  I get cynical or philosophical, which is my way of protecting my heart from what I cannot control by letting my head deal with it.  Then, when I make time and space, the dam breaks.  After a good cry, I can feel again.  I wrote this poem back in March– I can’t remember which bad news triggered it.

Broken Hearted

I witness the world turning.

I refuse to pretend it doesn’t hurt.

My heart breaks.

And I am not afraid.

I wear my broken heart with pride. 

I cry in public.

Over and over the tears flow.

Washing away bitterness, and, strangely, despair.

I will not hide from your pain.

I honor your broken heart.

I listen to its cries and

I gasp at the radiance that floods out from the cracks.

   -Terry LePage

Question for discussion: 

Where and how do you find a safe space to mourn the losses you are witnessing?

Closing Inspiration:

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent. 

      - Martin Luther King Jr.