When It Gets Better
When it gets better
We will know . . .
We will know that it’s better.
We have been waking
To swim upstream
All day, every day
And at day’s end
Finding progress measured
In inches and the ache of our bodies.
When it gets better
We will know it’s finally better
As though
Great winds, great tides
Great volumes of water
Flow with us
Lighten and carry us
Along a path cleared before us.
Those in pain
Will be cared for
Struggles will no longer seem to be in vain
Each falling tear will spring a flower
The most tentative touch
Will raise a fallen friend
Tired bodies will rest
Half-begun thoughts will be nurtured
Into endless intelligent complexity
We’ll breathe the betterness
Deep into our lungs and blood
We’ll walk united
And at ease
In this world
That our persistence
Has made possible
Where every good effort
We’ve ever made
Is part of the growing, great river
Carrying all of us
Home.
Seattle, Washington, USA
(Present Time 208, July 2022)