Health. Care. Well. Being.

Like a lab report we have dreaded,
the latest news is not what we want
to hear. Sick at heart, we feared the worst,
and now we know: our country’s poor
political habits have taken a toll
on our people and our planet.
Prognosis: it may be too late
to hold onto our moral health.

We were taught to hold one another
accountable, then offer hugs
and second chances of forgiveness,
when others failed to be their best.
Instead, we disdain need, rely on caring
professions to dispense hope, forget
how we, inspired and ready, once devoted
our lives to the many levels of care.

Now, our level playing field of dreams
seems just that—a dream, though
perhaps, if we could build it,
modern life’s refugees would come,
seeking living wages, safety, sources
of clean air and food and water,
escape from hate, work with meaning…
the things people need to live well.

We all deserve to live, a child tells me,
after this adolescent lesson in The World
According to Haves and Have Nots.
I long to push her to confront men
who vote against compassion, violate
virtue, invest in violence, vex peace.
Instead, I make her a promise we can share:
Let’s never forget to honor humans being.

by Anne McCrady

News Links (find out more):  CNN, MSNBC, Fox, NYTimes

Audio Link (hear Anne read the poem): SoundCloud