In the breathing of this nation
we can feel
deep desire
for reconciliation,
to be healed –
not that wrongs be covered  –
that they be revealed
so we can end our unmoored
drifting through illusions

Let us wash the disfiguring ignorance
from our hands, from our faces,
and be weaned from our dependency
on things that curate chasms.
We have sinned, yes, we have sinned,
but let it not be hidden from us –
we, too, can find within,
the strength to rise
with a refusal to be herded,
to be lied to,
to be deceived because it’s easy

Even when it’s hard,
the truth is cleaner and more bracing,
more health giving than what we have been fed.
Today we stand together
in the willingness
to live inclusive unity instead.

©Wendy Mulhern
January 20, 2021