(Joseph MacRae, published in Legacy lines: Poems inspired by LGBTQI+ Poets of the Past, edited by Daisy Barrett-Nash, Equal Arts, April, 2025. Prompt from February 5, 2025, feast day of the The Elets-Chernigov (Chernigov Spruce Tree) Icon of the Mother of God. Image from here.)
How to Make Peace
Start at home.
Start simply.
Mend bitterness, quarrels, disagreements with I love you. I forgive you.
Please forgive me. May God forgive the both of us.
Reach out at work. Don't be afraid to say I'm sorry for what happened
the other day — the greening with envy, seeing red, white lies.
Give forgiveness, if you would receive forgiveness.
Love your family, neighbors, your co-workers. Yes, even the one
who always sneaks the last cookie, snags your parking spot.
Love and forgiveness, it is a beginning.
*Freewrite as inspired by Audre Lorde’s “The Cancer Journals” (from Daisy Barrett Nash’s Legacy lines, January 29 and February 5, 2025)
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