Sit down here beside me  –
we have no time
to use the tools of the enemy –
the ruse of blame has played out
so many times, and each time,
we have found ourselves
back in its lap, sucking
its noxious fumes

Sit down with me, and we will talk
of gentle things, we’ll leave
ample spaces,
enough to listen,
enough to really hear,
enough to go down deeper
than the former narrative
would ever let us go

We won’t even think about
the enemy. Won’t give it even
a breath. That way we’ll make of it
an utter end, and have some ground
on which to start again.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 24,  2021