Don’t Look Away

Don’t look away.

This moment
–right here
–right now
needs our attention.

It needs us to see,
to hear and to smell
–the unfunny,
–the deathly serious,
–the calm and rational,
–the violent and hysterical.

There’s abundant beauty
right in front of our nose,
and mad irony too,
in being unable to focus our gaze
on what’s lurking so near.

The relentless itch
and the outrage–

The desperate longing
and unquenchable thirst–

Having the answer
but no one to tell–

that’s all present now,
carried beyond our knowing–
outward on each breath,
as we struggle and fight
the urge to turn away.

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This poem was written on September 21, 2025.