(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)
Commentary
I’m struggling with mental and emotional exhaustion caused largely by being hyper aware of current events on the national and international stage. And I’m torn…. As a citizen in a representative democracy, I have some responsibility to be aware of what’s happening and to exercise what little power I have to influence the course of events. But just how much do I need to know? How often should I check the news? I strongly suspect the world—and certainly I—would be better off if I concerned myself less and prayed more, if I occupied myself more with beauty and less with ugliness.
(background image, from Wikimedia Commons, is of radar tracking of the Rolling Fork, MS EF4 tornado)