we begin again with love

Brian on the Mt. Vernon Trail

we forgive ourselves
we forgive each other
we begin again
with love

repeating this as my mantra today
on this crisp autumn afternoon
when breathing in air
feels like drinking a cool glass of water

a day full of hope
for resistance, for struggle
without hate, without guilt
without shame, without fear

a day full of confrontation
of all the ways in which
i am my own worst enemy
without resentment
without disgust

but with compassion
and with love
and with forgiveness

with hope
for the light
at the end of the tunnel