This fierceness is needed,
for to allow the stain
to fall on anyone,
to let it shame them,
to let it shape them,
is an injustice
that can’t be allowed
This tenderness is needed,
for the washing clean
must deftly leave
all natural color intact —
all of it needed
to form the spectrum
expressing the wholeness of life.
©Wendy Mulhern
March 5, 2020