I was wrong for so long,
wedged tightly in the certainty
that I was right,
convinced by all the evidence
and all the arguments I made
inside my head

I was wrong for so long,
it takes some decompression
ro come out, it takes some silence,
it takes some tears,
it takes some awe, for this is not
the flipping of a coin,
this is abandoning the coin
and all its systems

This is seeing that I do not pay
by being punished,
but by giving myself fully
to the effort to see truly
and to let no condemnation
contaminate my thought

This is seeing that I pay
with my whole being,
endlessly, and purely, and with gratitude.

©Wendy Mulhern
May 23, 2021