If I Could Tell You Just One Thing

If I could tell you just one thing,
it would be this-
beneath the daily disappointments,
beneath the layers
of frustration,
anger,
sadness,
beneath even
your despair

lies pure,
inextinguishable
light.

No one else can give it to you,
no one else can take it away
because it is uniquely yours.

It is kindled by all kinds of beauty-
the face of a child,
a lovely song,
the sun filtering through the trees.
Kindness
is its circuitry.

Still,
there is cruelty,
conflict,
tragedy
that your tender heart
must somehow reconcile.

But there is also hope.
We are healed
and we are healers
when we respond
from our core of light.

If I could tell you just one thing,
it would be this.
But I can only shed light
on what you already know.

By Maria Brady-Smith
Photo by Mike Smith