The alabaster jar

Many of us are chronically distressed by the suffering we see around us. It confronts us in the 24/7 news cycle, in social media, in what we pass on the street every day. We live with a longing to be rid of the pain and guilt that we experience in witnessing all of this suffering.

That longing drives us to cast about for things to do that would “fix the problem.” We try and we urge others to try political

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The Profane Gardener

Waiting for Quaker meeting
with a fence of white jasmine
behind me
and the
sun
a bit too warm

I hear from across
another wooden fence
opposite
the shout of the
morning-sobered plumber
stumbling from his
trailer:

“Alright! The first lily
has bloomed!
Fuckin’ yes!”

"Easter yellow," by Mike Shell (2012)

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