Fighting For(ward)

The cynics of the world say there are no wins
in fighting “for”: elections are swayed by “against,”
by pitting patriots with snarling teeth
against the so-called aliens,
by splitting towns, by blaming sick and poor
by ripping hearts free of the weeds
they used to know as “kindness.”

But I have seen a mama ewe with her back against the wall,
guarding newly-born lambs,
still wet from the dew of her womb,
this docile symbol’s head bowed, nostrils flared –
ready to make war for her babes,
and I am not so sure.

I have seen my brothers and sisters roused
not by hatred, but by a love so fierce
it may yet mend this broken home:

Rosie fighting for her granddaughters,
fearless and safe in their bodies now.
Bent on protecting that boundless joy.

Brian from the Parks writing for his trees,
for the golden edge of sun along a curled sword fern’s frond,
for the wild earth and waters, which serve but cannot speak.

Anna defending the guests and refugees,
people she has never met, but fully sees
as fellow souls deserving human dignity.

James on the streets for all who have been harmed,
and need a hand to stand: the veterans,
the old, the sick and desperately eager to heal.

Despots and tyrants fight “against”;
and sometimes, they do win,
for a time –

But the people rising,
our messy and disparate tribe of tribes
We are a union standing “for”:

For daughters, for forests, for strangers, for friends
Most of all, for the right to reject
a traitor telling us who to stand against.

This kindness is no weed.
It is a tiny oak, and with the grace of love and years,
its roots will give rise to an American prairie –

So rich and beautiful that the staid lawn
of oppression will be forgotten,
not hated or destroyed but
simply folded gently into the tilth

The sod that nourishes the camas lilies,
the bright abundance of berries
the sea of native grasses
and million sweet-scented blades
of all we are fighting “for.”

A. Woodward is a local Olympia gardener. She was born in the Midwest but has put down strong roots in the PNW, where she is helping to build a community that protects both people and place.