The Deception of Collapse

The walls stand. Little else does.
The roof has fallen in.
The floors have collapsed.
Not a shard of glass remains.
The rain falls. The rubble rots. But

As long as one wall,
one brick of the foundation remains,
there is rebuilding to be done.
Possibilities, small as they are, exist.

The work will be slow.
Do not deceive yourself.
It will be painful.
Do not deceive yourself.

But do not deceive yourself:
It is possible.

About this poem

My favorite quote is from Churchill. I have a small brass plaque on my desk I see every day. “Never, ever, ever, give up.”.  It has sustained me through many a dark time.

The picture is of an old factory in Turner’s Falls, Mass.

Tom