I notice myself garnering
joy from little things  –
fire in the evening,
coffee in the morning  –
though I have felt the pull
to dedicate myself
to larger causes

And have done so,
and felt the heady hope
and also undercutting deluge
of despair. Shouldn’t this be easy?
– To put my full weight
into what I know is true,
and to be wholly unimpressed
by contradicting lies?

Shouldn’t this be easy?
But when it’s not, I guess
I also am allowed the little joys.

©Wendy Mulhern
September 20, 2022