Standstill

sky above, earth below

Montreal Sunrise, 30 January 2025 -- photo by the poet

These times we're living in —
the winter of humanity,
when meanness gains the upper hand —
call for an inner retreat
while also showing up where
the sun continues to rise.

Walking barefoot across
the frozen river at sunrise
is emphatically not advised,
but there are other ways to
assert a warm gesture of
civil disobedience

and quietly protest
the icy-numb stupidity
the situation would inflict,
such as greeting with a song
the increasing light of dawn
and then making your way to

a nearby coffeehouse
for a warm cup of local brew
and friendly solidarity
to espouse community,
reembracing sanity
and poetry and beauty.

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