By Now

By now,
the wounds we haven’t
managed to recover from
have found a home
in every sigh,
every ache,
every limp.

I feel it
and I am learning to accept it.
I tell myself this:
Just do the best you can.
Which is often
so far from what I once thought
was acceptable
that it is humbling.

But humble is ok, too.
It softens me,
makes me less judging of others,
who also wear their wounds
on their sleeve,
or gut,
or heart.

Because it is not judging
or harshness
that is going to heal
the wounds of this world.

It is a willingness
to give each other grace
in our woundedness.

By Maria Brady-Smith
Photo by Mike Smith