after a line from Gregory Boyle Let’s build a monument, a cathedral on this spot. Let’s mark the overlooked places. Let’s mark the spouse boiling water in anticipation of the partner’s evening tea, the parent waking early every morning to make a hot breakfast, the barista greeting every single customer with the same smile, the patient cutting through the hospital-room anxiety with a well-timed off-color joke, the friend sitting quietly with one lost in grief. Let’s mark the foster parents welcoming a child who may never trust anyone, the family serving at the soup kitchen and the hands held out, the grandmother taking her grandson to the voting booth, the dad, abused as a kid, now putting on makeup and a bonnet for the tea party with his daughter. Let’s build a cathedral to this, right here.
The title and the hospital-room joke come from the same scene in Gregory Boyle’s Barking to the Choir. The first tea stanza owes a debt to Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, whose kindness poems are full of kettles.
If this resonates, I’d love to hear from you. A comment, a share, or even just a like goes a long way. Writing into the void is its own practice, but knowing the work lands makes it easier to keep showing up.