Vulnerable and Open
You may believe this world
has gone completely crazy.
Of course you wouldn’t be alone.
It’s no longer just the sensitive ones
who can feel and expose
the tortured soul of the collective.
Everywhere are men and women
broken and twisted by Ponzi schemes,
grown fat and cynical by the prosperity gospel,
armed by the Second Amendment,
and fitted for a suicide vest by fundamentalism.
There is no longer a way
for our enfeebled minds
to make sense of this world,
with its astounding diversity
and overwhelming complexity.
We simply don’t realize
by running from change,
we’re pointing a gun
at our own head.
Within all the turmoil,
there is optimism and creativity.
Life and love will continue in beings
who remain vulnerable and open.
“I spent a lot of years trying to outrun or outsmart vulnerability by making things certain and definite, black and white, good and bad. My inability to lean into the discomfort of vulnerability limited the fullness of those important experiences that are wrought with uncertainty: Love, belonging, trust, joy, and creativity to name a few.”
This poem has been adapted and was originally shared on March 29, 2017, and was titled A Speck of Truth. The original is included in Tomorrow Could Be Wonderful: Brian's Poem of the Day: 365 Daily Meditations Vol. 1.
©Brian Mueller - All rights reserved.
