Though there may be little to celebrate
in the march of days,
in the laying down of one year
over another,
though reasons to think and notice
be papered over
with sales
and paucity of leisure time,
though days themselves have little power
to elicit mindfulness,
still a wave of progress
is coming through

We will not use the tools of war
in this, our urgent bid for peace,
we will not tear down first
before we rise.
It takes our every ounce of effort
to grow, to build connection;
we’re filling now with our imperative
and soon our interlock will overcome
what, all this time, was set up to divide us

We will be mindful
not because of history
or because of others
but because of us, because of now.

©Wendy Mulhern
January 16, 2017