Spit and dust

by Charles R. Strietelmeier in the June 16, 2021 issue

Spit in the face,
dust on the head—
we dread
such tokens of disgrace
and our mortality.
But when love blends
the two, the clay
in your hands
is why
we live. Mud in the eye
is how we see.

This poem appears in the June 16, 2021 issue.

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Against killing children

We have become a society of people who cannot prevent our own children from being killed in their classrooms—and who do not much mind the killing of other people’s children by weapons of war.

by Wendell Berry