To Do List

Number one, check. Number two, in progress. Fortified by more coffee. (It was on sale this morning, as was gasoline.) Number three will involve a new tire, its installation, and taking a book to the waiting room.

Or the new issue of Poetry East.

I am glad of the civic discourse that has begun (gun control, mental health) this Blue Monday, including an invitation to a conversation by our own mayor. I am avoiding the "conversations" that are still primarily rants, answered by rants; they seem to include cursing, pronouncements, and blame. Not much compassion. I'm OK with anger about this--I'm angry, too--but we can still be kind. Daily. Small, steady acts of kindness. It takes discipline and commitment, courage, relentless attention. It's hard. But good.