by Mary Saracino
Stand up
Speak out
Rattle the bars of your cage
Open the doors, unlatch the windows
Stare evil in the eye without flinching
Root your spirit in audacious truth
Let your voice ride the wind
Give your heart ample room to howl
Cultivate compassion
Share your joy with the world
Name the unnamable
Forgive the unforgivable
Remember love is more potent than fear
& more transcendent
Be kind, but fiercely just
Dismantle war in yourself
Sow peace everywhere
Begin to see things as they truly are: spacious
& teeming with paradox
Embrace the conundrum
Become the path you seek
Befriend the enigma with its gnarl of knots
Unravel the questions
Find your answers in the disquieting silence
Celebrate everything you can
Mary Saracino is a novelist, poet and memoir-writer who lives in Denver , CO . Her most recent novel, The Singing of Swans (Pearlsong Press 2006) was a 2007 Lambda Literary Awards Finalist. Her short story, "Vicky's Secret" earned the 2007 Glass Woman Prize.
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