Democracy is love

A meditation as we go to the polls

To let go willingly

To give up gracefully

To trust people who are different and difficult.

Perfect strangers.

Imperfect neighbors.

To give them a say.

To die, even, for their say

No matter what they say.

To accept a place in this together

Instead of demanding others know theirs.

To be one of many,

A face in a crowd,

E Pluribus Unum.

The weak and the wise, the talented and the timid.

Democracy is love.

The world once ran on brute strength and birthright.

Families and farms.

Churches and states.

Marriages of convenience

Formed of force and fear, fealty and favor.

People were pieces

Of a puzzle,

On a chess board.

There’s order in that.

There’s certainty.

But there’s no love.

And democracy is love.

Love throws everything up in the air

And watches it rain.

It finds and unfurls and surfaces and coaxes out.

It plants the seeds and harvests the fields.

It bakes a pie as big as all our hopes and dreams

All mashed up together.

Have a little faith, spread it around.

Let it walk away. Watch it stick around.

How much more fragile and lovely are the ties that choose to bind?

Opposite ends that reach out for each other,

Mismatched wings on which we rise.

There is no fear in love.

But there is no guarantee.

And democracy is love.

Sometimes you lose.

Someone has to lose

Or we all lose together.

Sometimes we steal from ourselves

Believing we are hoarding.

Sometimes it hurts like a spear to the side,

Blood and water.

A turned cheek beaten black and blue.

A human whim makes a dime look steady.

We are called to be angels but allowed to be demons.

We are free to build or break, work or wound.

To kick and scream.

But love is steadfast and patient.

Love plays the longest game.

And democracy is love.

We could throw it all in the trash,

The ruins we leave,

The chaos we choose,

Only to abide in futile, fiery filth.

There’s only risk

When safety is an option.

There are no safe options.

We have no choice

But to allow for choice.

And I would give myself up for yours,

Hollow and howling though it may be.

Love isn’t really love without it.

And democracy is love.

Thank you to everyone who is speaking out and working hard for democracy. Your love inspires us all.