Resistance and Resilience: Love

June 2, 2025

Art in any form is resistance. This blog is an invitation to submit any works of art that speak to resistance against the injustices of these current times and to resilience that keeps us grounded in hope, truth, and love. Former submissions can be found here under “Writings” : https://spirit-reflections.org/.

Today’s submission is from poet E. Reid.

One Word

When I confront open space,
I panic.

Widespread and empty
used to be my thing.

Give me the desert.
Give me an ocean horizon.
Give me a blank page.
(Give me a hundred!)
Give me a room of my own.
Give me a blue sky.
Give me a new friend
whose soul is a mystery.
Give me the mystery
of myself, and what may be
inside.

But lately, I want to hide—
to tuck away from the cold,
from a world speaking only Hate.
I pull my sheet and blanket
over my face,
nest it behind my head,
make a dark bubble
in which I heat myself with breath
until I can’t stand it
and must open a pocket—a vent.
The cool air is a liberation—
and a crack of light.
When I am satisfied
I hide again.

I am reminded of the parable’s servant
given only one talent
Who buried it, so the one thing
he had would not be lost—
by risk or chance.

I always found it unfair
how dreadfully he was scolded.
It made perfect sense to me:
If you only have one thing,
why waste it?

And again, but this time differently—
If I only have one thing
why waste it
under here
breathing my own air
worrying about dying
or worse—pain?

Many words on the page feel like
blood marks of trying to live.

Maybe one word is enough.

For now—a little pocket,
a vent of liberation,
if I can’t take the whole sky,
Can I face one word—
and then maybe another—
But for now, just one—
that lets in the air
and the light?

I could commit to writing one word
every day.
Plant it like a seed in the desert.
A boat in the harbor for now,
but loading for journey.
A red kite in the endless sky,
its string my tether to
what matters.
A cup of coffee with a friend,
quiet, free to be shy,
unknowing.
Me, tucked into my bed in the chasm
of my room, in the chasm
of the world,
letting the panic hit,
pummel my chest, and
take away everything—
I think—everything!—
until suddenly it ceases,
and here I am again,
the openness of me
breathing, seeing,
with only one word
to write today—

Today’s word is:
Love.

(c) E. Reid*

Some possible prompts from the poet for your reflection or creative works:

What is your one word for today? What is your tether to what matters?

Creating with you,

Rosemary

*Born in Eastern Washington and raised in Southern California, E. Reid has lived and worked in North Alabama and Southern Middle Tennessee since 1998. She and her partner live in an old wood home with a menagerie of critters surrounded by green hills. An alumna of the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing in Louisville, Kentucky, E. Reid writes fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction.

Photo credit: Pixabay