Let’s hold down the whole tarp of the world —
you at your point, me at mine, each of us
scattered like stars, like pin pricks in the fabric

There are enough of us to hold things steady,
to help them settle,
to calm the raging wrinkling crackling rippling,
keep it from being tumbled, over and over,
in the wind, keep it from ripping ragged

We hold it down in peace. We hold it
in unruffled knowing
that everything opposing
just really wants
to curl up and be cuddled,
just wants
acceptance in the Allness,
and the confidence
that there’s no need for fighting anymore

We’ll hold down the world
until it lies still,
until it rests velvet
along the contours of its love.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 4, 2019