Fresh Air On My Face

Today
I need
Fresh air on my face

Breathing room in my life

A way to step aside

And get a sense
Of where I am

Of what life is asking of me

And what
I am asking
Of myself

If It Happens Here

If it happens here
And I find myself
In an unthinkable circumstance
 
Wounded
Survival unlikely
Unable to escape

My plan is very clear

I will look around me

I will lay down beside
Those who are not able
To move

I will make sure
That no one within my reach
Dies alone

Make sure the last thing they feel
Is an arm around them
Words of peace in their ears
 
Sure you can take my sense of safety

You can take my hopes for peace

You can take even my life

But you cannot take
My humanity

And if you leave in me
Any life at all

I’m going to give
The very last of it away

As a reminder
Of what most people
Are made of