Mantra For Overwhelm
on the power of one foot, one pencil, one pancake, one kiss
One foot in front of the other
my mantra for overwhelm.
One word, one pencil, one notebook
turns into a three-foot stack of ideas.
One smile, one pancake, one hug
propels my babies to freedom.
One fight, one apology, one kiss
lessons learned from a crushed heart.
One compassionate thought
 drawn from an open mind.
One September raindrop to quite the raging fires
calming a summer of division and heat.
Two cups of tea on a weathered picnic table
trying to understand an old friend
Two hands touching each other
a bridge toward common ground
One golden leaf on one aspen tree reveals the
singular being that covers an entire mountainside
outside my bedroom window,
a splash of joy on Mt. TaylorÂ
reminds me
of the vastness of our spinning globe and thatÂ
One grateful thought
illuminates the pathÂ
through the dark.