RISE
I want to tell you something:
There is still good in this world.
It isn’t front page news
As headlines tend to resist subtlety.
Although what is precious
Seems far from subtle,
Don’t you think?
Like the woman
I passed in the market
Ivory haired
With fingers wrapped
Around the handle
Of her grandchild’s stroller.
She was gazing at the child’s face
Then suddenly looked up to meet mine.
A connection passed between us
Not like typeface—flat—
but as the rising of a thousand wings
Circular
Like blue monarchs
Inviting us towards each other.
Her eyes glistened with a wordless
“Isn’t she beautiful?”
And the radiance caught my breath
Not only of the child
But of her admirer
In whose vision she was held.
Suddenly we were three
Cradled in tenderness
The glistening eyes now mine.
“Oh, yes,” said my heart
Tucking into this fluttering eddy of grace
Soft, yet river strong.
Never let me forget this beauty.
“Beauty is everywhere,”
Whispered the wings
Rising in gentle arcs
Reminding me
that what is good
Lives on
When it is shared.
06.22.2026