This is a sonnet first draft written on November 26, 2024, a few weeks after the election and a few days before I got covid, followed not long after by the flu. The long stretch of illness and recovery derailed my “Poem of the Week” series. This would have been the next in line, and it still speaks to where I am and what I feel called to do. Does it speak to you? If so, please leave a comment. I would be glad to hear how you are responding to this time.
I see two Scrabble signs at home each day:
one “SAVOR;” and the other one “RESIST.”
I see now they are callings to obey
to fight totalitarians’ fierce fist.
They suddenly have bought complete control,
brainwashing innocents with hateful lies,
exploiting fears, empowering every troll
to swing its club until the nation dies,
and sweet earth, too. So I am called to fight
by savoring and loving what they’re killing,
by letting that love guide me by its light,
by quieting to sense what it is willing—
love’s Tao or Spirit that wants life to thrive.
Savor. Resist. It’s why I am alive.
11/26/24
Thomas Cary Kinder 