Bestowed

When needs
Are routinely met
 
When a life
Is well cared for
With warm clothes
And kind words

When the outlook
On the horizon
Is hope

And the view 
Over the fence
Is a gentle field
Of wildflowers

There is
A certain license
And freedom of agency

An unearned
Though not underserved
Pass
 
A breath of air bestowed
 
That frees up the energy
To dream
And laugh
 
That frees up internal space
To plan
And get ahead of
Life’s curves

And the lives
Of others
With piled up
Unmet needs
 
With noses pressed up
To the fence
And no boost up
To see over it
 
With energies spent
On the daily work
Of self-preservation
 
May be good
But not nearly
As sweet

And this is how life goes

We have paths
That offer us different tools
Ask of us different things

And we become
Who we are
Because of them

Antidote

I have found it

The antidote to
The ever present emptiness
The striving for approval
The longing for acceptance
 
To the figuring out
New ways to earn
Love

Painful
In both
Its simplicity
And delivery

It is this

It is looking into
Your own eyes
And approving

It is acknowledging 
Your weaknesses
And accepting

It is offering  
Your currently flawed self
Love

It is realizing
That you are worthy
And always
Have been