the witching hour
it’s 3 am
the witching hour
when the veil is thin
and spirit guides come to call
at least that what google said
and so I wait
in the hush of early morning
for the meaning of life
to be unveiled
to me and my dog
who sits beside my bed
and lets me pet his velvety ears
until I fall back to sleep
it’s 4 am
and i’m still awake
my mind drifts and sifts
through the day before
all the things I felt and saw
the homeless camp in downtown eugene
remembering what someone once said
about no child ever dreaming
of being a junkie when he grows up
and how I recently heard a famous rock star
say the first time you do heroine
you go immediately to heaven
and you can chase that feeling the rest of your life
but every other time takes you deeper into hell
and I see all those junkies as children who never dreamed this
and my heart hurts
the film about a 13-year-old activist in palestine
recording the Israeli occupation
letting us see it through her eyes
a young girl who has seen
too much violence and injustice
who lives in a world
where her friends and family are
arrested
interrogated
sometimes shot
we take a selfie
she asks to see
no, no my hair looks weird
let’s take it again
and I see a young girl who should be allowed
to simply be a teen and not a pawn in a political game
and my heart hurts
the man who steps up to the microphone
with a question for the young palestian girl
but it’s not a question
it’s a confession
he served in Iraq
and knows that his bullets
shot innocent young people just like her
who were caught up in a world
they never dreamed of
and he’s so glad she’s alive
and speaking her truth
and hopes we all can hear
because war is ugly
and lives are lost
and I see that his may be one of them
and my heart hurts
the facebook post I read from a 93-year-old mother
to her middle-aged son
who has transitioned into her middle-aged daughter
love is so pliant she writes
it stretches to fit
is resilient, and everlasting -- that I know
it’s 5 am
and I finally fall asleep
dreaming of the time when we will wake up to a love
that stretches to fit us all
and my heart hurts a little less