A line on paper, after all,
is not worth getting riled about —
it didn’t cost money, it can easily
be erased or moved

A gesture, too, is just a movement
of a frame, just an expression
of a construct of internal stories
which, themselves (though it might
not seem quite so easy) can be changed

A tone of voice, a whole visceral uprising,
a set of back and jaw, a reaction —
these things are not the person,
they can be released,
for each of us has the right
to grow in peace.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 26, 2016