Enemies

We looked around for the enemy

but all we could see

were faces wanting to be loved —

some with glints of longing,

some with aching hope,

some afraid to even

look up and see

No one was standing

with bared teeth

waiting to devour

or in the inscrutable ice

that blandly wields a pen

to steal the lives of millions

Instead we saw the power

that kindles kinship from afar,

that brings each one back

from dim benighted stances

We saw the incredulous

but then willing

dropping of forms,

of roles, of strictures —

we saw the relief,

grateful and repentant

of coming home.

©Wendy Mulhern

April 25, 2015