remember,

Photo by Sep on Unsplash

remember, 
to surrender to too many demands is to succumb to violence. The frenzy of our activism destroys our own inner capacity for peace. —Thomas Merton

every day, remembering this,
she bows
then forgets again and pushes
too hard, compelled 
by what she sees

a child digs through the corner 
dumpster for food,
homeless dogs, their furtive 
eyes on the prowl,
boneworn mothers 
fumble their groceries,
sweating farmworkers
in sun-scoured fields—

everywhere 
need, crying