My hope is that we’ll live to see
bricks of oppression crumble,
as the dendritic seep of life
laces through everything,
and what’s alive is strengthened,
and what is not of life
becomes increasingly irrelevant
Our strength will not be
the rules we were forced into,
won’t be the structure imposed from without
See? This kernel of strength
grows within us,
this network of strength
makes its own innate order,
this blooming of strength
fills our minds with its fragrance
and ushers us into our own.
©Wendy Mulhern
May 28, 2023