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photo by lady k

THE DAY TURNS   
 
Are you alright?
I ask my friend in her kitchen
and she begins to cry, turns
to tell me, "No one has asked me
that in months."
 
I enter my son's bedroom
after his divorce and ask,
"Are you alright?" and he
looks back, holds me with his eyes,
begins to share his anger and his pain.
 
 There are so many ways to be,
 so many choices we can make.
 
My daughter enters the emergency room,
my wife taken upstairs for observation,
and she walks over, touching my arm,
to ask, Are you alright, Dad? and I can admit
that I am not.
 
When my youngest daughter gives birth
to a stillborn child, and my wife
asks weeks later How are you doing?
I sit and listen through our tears and doubts, t
touch her face to say I love you.
 
     May you be well.
     May you be at peace.
     May you be filled with loving kindness.
     May you know your true self.
     May you be happy.
 
This is the way we heal and release
the pain of our days.
Leaning into it, we ask
ourselves, then others,
Are you alright?
 
Are you alright?

larry smith

DO NOT WORRY ABOUT ME

do not worry about me. i am a trooper. i stumble and fall but i get up and keep going. ditch shame, it is a destructive emotion. accept, forgive move on. emotions are like clouds across the sky. they come and go and should not be given too much energy.

mary hughes

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