No Contest

There will be no more contests.

I, at least, will not compete

for those dubious awards —

most envied,

most evolved,

most tragically thwarted

(or more exalted ones

I deemed outside my range)

I won’t pursue them for myself

or for my children,

won’t play for them in back rooms

of my mind

I have had enough now.

It’s time to take myself and,

as I can, lay aside those filters

and those trappings.

It’s time to meet each being

with the attention that he or she or it deserves,

having been put here, after all,

in this place, in this moment,

so we could uplift each other,

so we could be in awe

of how amazingly

Life provides our joy.

©Wendy Mulhern

April 26, 2016