How to meet the grey turn of the forecast, the stutter of any new uncertainty.
How to tell aloud the thing that broke inside. How to name pain, describe its bones,
its cries in the dark. How to bear the way we bear the hurt. How to stop sitting so still
in the bearing. How to admit how hard it is. How to carry the grudges, the wounds,
the mistakes, the failed efforts, the sour betrayals, the holes we poked in our own eyes.
How to stop telling the same old story. How to clear the unclearable decks.
How to forgive. How to ask for forgiveness. How to open our mouths for the sake
of the wildflowers that live there. How to love through fear and how to create through
fear and how to fear through fear. How to say “hello” and mean it. How to say
“How are you?” and mean it. How to say “No really, how are you?” and mean it.

Posted by kind permission of the poet.

Photo by Annie Spratt


Maya Stein
Maya Stein

Maya Stein is a Ninja poet, writing guide, and creative adventuress. She has kept a weekly short-form poetry practice, “10-line Tuesday” since 2005, and facilitates writing workshops in person and online. After a 7-year stint in suburban New Jersey, she is now happily ensconced in the wilds of mid-coast Maine, in a house named Toad Hall. Connect with her at mayastein.com. (Photo by Chris Battaglia)

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Poetry