Bittersweet

There was a tenderness

in returning

to the quiet place

in our hearts,

a bittersweet

vow to honor

and release

all that had been

denied

and pushed down

or covered up —

when what had

been seen as

so obvious

in the heart

could not be communicated

on the surface,

not directly,

and my own deepest pain

became triggered.

And so the challenge

became holding

all I knew

to be sacred,

no matter how

it appeared on

the surface —

reaching and joining

with others

who longed to find

a way to continue

to stand

in our hearts

and in a healing world —

holding a space

of compassion

beyond understanding

and finding a gentler way

for us all.