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the bowl of our society has been thrown to the ground,

broken into fragments, dusty pieces lie scattered

From California to New York, from Florida to Michigan,

crockery in need of mending.

Is it possible that the pieces,

are too fragmented to be glued together again? 

Are there craftsmen with sufficient skill

to fit the fragile pieces back to the original shape?

As a child, I broke my mother’s favorite tea pot.

I wept into her apron begging for forgiveness.

She kissed my forehead, and found the glue.

Together we put the spout back on the body of the pot,

glued the handle to the opposite side.

Together we held the pieces in place until the glue

was strong enough to sustain the mend.

Better than new, she said.

And that is what our country needs right now,

for each of us to take a fragment, a chip, a broken part,

hold it up and think about where it best can fit

to make the bowl of our nation whole again.

                        The Japanese have a name for this repair,

                        Kintsugi,   the Japanese art of repairing

                        broken pottery by mending the areas

                        of breakage with lacquer dusted

                        or mixed with powdered gold, silver,

                        or platinum,  making the repaired vessel

                        more  beautiful than the original.

Those who know about Kintsugi

need to spread the word, be the potter making the repair.

Forgiveness is the powdery gold,

compassion, the silver, justice, the platinum.

To mend a broken vessel is not easy,

it takes patience to hold all the pieces together,

cooperation, diligence, faith,

a community dedicated to Kintsugi.