Trust

I have to trust that the silence
is real -

I have to trust that the freezing
fog is comforting as it
closes-in and night falls -

I have to trust that
the bomb won't land that
the knife won't slice that
the fist won't strike that
I will not be broken
on the road, spectacle,
the end of all things.

I have to trust the peace
rising from the trees, falling
from birds' wings; that
the rushing river sings;

that in summer my grass will
need mown and the beds
weeded; that I will not drown

in the spaces of the day
where the sun smiles down,
my heart keeps beating time
and all my fears live
far away.

In another place, another life
I was blinded, made deaf,
dumb, we are all orphans
with no home
with no-one.

I have to trust that here is
safe and well and void;
that I have paid the price
paid the bill
that they do not need my skin
to make their shades -

that the peace is real
that the silence of the days
will always
rise to greet me
when I stand.

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