when the circumstances
that define us
change
when the institutions
that make us great
die
when bad chemistry
with some individual,
group or belief
poisons our
days
when we seem to wither
in place be
cause our situation
cannot
alter
we are sick
at heart––
our flesh shudders
as though some sharp
trauma has brought us
to an end
we are abandoned
to be ourselves
as time bleeds
away
we need to feel
the emptiness
to find
our way
through whatever
anger
through whatever
starving
through whatever
suffering
through whatever
pain
even if God
pulls us up––
or our friends––
or our lover––
or if we revive
some how
by popular
demand––
we must believe
in the self
silent in
the center of
our breath
who sees & knows
& cares & loves
who gestures for always
i am
the same being
as the beginning
that has a
forever
to grow