OPEN SEPT. 15 - NOV. 15: SOWELL EMERGING WRITERS PRIZE FOR FULL FICTION MANUSCRIPT. LEARN MORE.
Hand touching high grass

Letter to America
by Kevin McIlvoy

One Poem

 

Response to your fearful thoughts
regarding critical race theory

               May thoughts of mercy
arise only after the acts.         
               May the thought of peace
arise only after the truce.
               May thoughts of caring
arise only after giving.

               May you not retreat
from acts of love to
               remote thoughts of love—
no matter the price.

               May your caring come first.

               May your peace be held fast.

               May mercy light your face.

               May you hear the pure note you sing
and from inside the holy sound
               may you feel what you are finding
before you think what you have found.

 

 

 

Kevin McIlvoyKevin McIlvoy, a retired teacher, lived in Asheville, North Carolina, until his passing in September 2022. His poems have appeared recently in Barzakh, Gulf Coast, Your Impossible Voice, Willow Springs, and The Night Heron Barks.

Header photo by Daniel Reche, courtesy Pixabay.