Victim

Are you a victim
at this moment?
Are you presently
at war?
Who is oppressing you
right now?
Are you warm enough?
Is there a breath for you
to take?
What gives you
this feeling of
poverty and lack?
Perhaps right here
where you stand,
where you take
one gentle step
forward,
the world is not
such a brutal place
after all.
Maybe there's a pot
of luscious soil,
a square foot of dirt
in your yard
where you might plant
a seed of beauty,
of possibility,
of green.


Sumi-e ink painting by Bonny Butler