What I Want

By Judith Prest

I want the open sore
our country has become
to finish draining
and start healing

I want the kneeling
football players
awarded trophies
for honoring the fallen

I want the ancestors
to gather, sing us songs
of solidarity
stroke our brows while we sleep

I want to see the homeless rise
from subway grates, park benches
I want their empty bowls filled
with opportunity and blessing

just once,
I want to see billionaires
breaking bread with single moms,
parolees, runaways, bag ladies

I want the grandmothers, the mothers
to have enough time, enough money,
enough food to feed
and nurture all who come to the table

I want to see reconciliation
trump racism and genocide
to see compassion become our currency,
law to become infused with love

Judith Prest is a poet, creativity coach, mixed media artist, photographer and workshop leader. She has taught creative writing, expressive arts and creativity and healing workshops in prisons, community centers, retirement communities, libraries, schools, retreat centers, and at her home based Spirit Wind Studio. A retired school social worker, she works part time leading Recovery Writing and Expressive Arts groups for adults in day treatment for addiction. She believes that creativity is our birthright as humans and that accessing and using our creativity is a wonderful strategy for healing ourselves and the planet. Her poetry has been published in seven anthologies and in literary journals, and she has self published three collections of poetry over the past twenty years. She lives in rural upstate NY with her husband and three cats.

Photo credit: Gaspar Torres via a Creative Commons license.