You only lose if you lose heart,
I told him —
It was a good Sunday School lesson,
and he agreed
He’d seen his teammates flag
but he had rallied
Made five goals to bring his team up to a tie
(being a better shot than many seventh graders,
he confided.)
You only lose if you lose heart
And here I am
In the face of all these lies
that up to half our country
seem to have swallowed
And the bought campaigns
meekly reported in the news
as if they were legitimate
And I am at a loss for heart
All the deep sighs
that keep escaping me
And the head-bowed stupor
that keeps engulfing me
And my feeble protest
as if someone would hear
Will do no good
If I’m to help us rally
I need to find my heart.
©Wendy Mulhern
November 4, 2012