Well, maybe I shouldn’t have
left the meeting early —
Maybe I succumbed
to divisive voices,
allowed myself the story
that my best work
would be what I did alone

When I could have known
the present need
was for my present attention
to everything in my own thought
that was ruffled
by the words of others

My need was to stand guard
against suggestions of polemic,
to find the higher embracing way
where everyone feels at home.

©Wendy Mulhern
June 30, 2015