Where Poem by Jinnuraine Jaigirdar

Where am I?
Where are we?
Residents—otherwise!
The sky—swollen with anticipation,
The heart—aching with longing.

We live on hope,
We live on waiting,
Even in emptiness—
In the freedom to differ.

Let me still my expectations,
Shorten the wait within.
Let me listen—to criticism,
Receive debate—with grace.

Let me tolerate difference,
In its endless expanse.
Let me praise free speech—
In generous abundance.

Where are we—
In the garden of differing voices?
Where are we—
In the fields of honest critique?

We are stale—otherwise,
Minds numbed,
Sorrow without thought.
And yet—there is still hope.

I wish the sky were full!
Full of soul-warming friendship,
Full of the rising Friends' Meeting.
I press down hope in my heart,
Like seeds beneath the soil.