A Petition for Forward Motion

My Hometown Poem

One step forward
Is all I ask.

Sometimes it feels
As if I am standing still
Surrounded by fog
Or moving backwards
Or sideways 
Or downwards
Or in no direction at all
Plummeting headlong 
Careening and crashing
Awash in confusion and fear.
When all I ask
Is to inch ahead
Even the slightest bit.

One step forward
Is all I ask.

I ask for help to clear the broken path
To stop tripping 
On the same precarious patterns
To stop traveling down the same 
Ceaseless dead end roads
To stop spinning 
In the same endless circles and cycles.
I ask to move past
The past
To advance
Even the slightest bit.

As the sun appears in the east
Vibrant with the promise of renewal
I ask
For space.
Space
To learn to walk
To learn to breathe
To learn to run
To falter
To stumble and tumble
To think and rethink
To feel more fully
To love more deeply
To pick myself up over and over again.

As the sun sets in the west
Illuminated in dusk
Reflecting the divine
I ask
For grace.
Grace
To slip
To fall
To fail 
To regain my footing 
To tend and mend
To come into my body in safety
To seek solace
To accept comfort and care
To restore my spirit and
Repair my soul
To rest and be whole.

Just one step 
Is all I ask
A petition for forward motion.
A prayer
For patience and wisdom
Sometimes imploring
Sometimes a wish or hope
For even the smallest movement
Towards progress
Towards peace
Towards becoming 
What I might be
What I might leave behind
In this short life
In this precious world.

I’m honored to be a member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. Please consider supporting our members. I highly recommend their columns.

Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights

Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll

Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines

Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake

Suzanna de Baca Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley

Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County

Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji

Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines

Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilla

Dana James: New Black Iowa, Des Moines

Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey

Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines

Barry Piatt: Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices

*Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County

Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport

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