The promise of joy
is not distant, after all  –
is not based on conditions to be met

The promise of joy shines brighter
than the jagged fear edges
through which it breaks

and ultimately
it doesn’t need to overcome them –
in its brilliance nothing else
has any presence

For joy is even more than promise  –
it is our natural state,
the breath of life before the world began
which knits us, breath by breath,
with our I Am.

©Wendy Mulhern
April 29, 2022