This is How We’ll Make It

Written on 27 August 2024.

This is how we’ll make it

We’ll get up, again
turn the news down
and turn up the laughter
the knock-knock jokes that have no punch line
but bring fits of giggles nonetheless.
We’ll make beds and breakfast
pack lunches and feed the animals.
We’ll make a casserole and drop it with a note to a friend
Thinking of you.
We’ll make bread and cookies
deliver to the family with a new baby
Welcome to the world, sweet one.

This is how we’ll make it
with phone calls and hand-written notes
children’s scribbles, a cascade of rainbows and hearts.
We’ll open doors and windows
listen to birdsong
watch the cardinal perch on the evergreen bush
the bees and butterflies hungry for nectar,
nature reminding us gently that seasons come and go.
We’ll plant flowers and scatter seeds
water the vegetables and pray for fruit.
We’ll weed and till and weed some more
we won’t give up on that tiny bean shoot
and marvel at the cucumber vine
clinging to the trellis.
We’ll gorge ourselves on fresh tomatoes
bag them for neighbors
make homemade lemonade to parch our thirst.

This is how we’ll make it
with a chorus of:
Thank you.
I love you.
You’re not alone.
Let me help.
We’re in this together.
We’ll put one foot in front of the other
we’ll cling to our prayers as if our lives depended on them,
as if our hope for the world depended on them.

This is how we’ll make it.

*Inspired by This is How We’ll Make It by Mihee Kim-Kort in A Rhythm of Prayer.
// Originally posted on Substack where I share my writing and you can sign up to have my words land directly in your email.