My parents raised me
to distrust life.
Despite their religious grounding–
or perhaps because of it–
life loomed, imperiously sinister. 

    "The world's a horrible place,
    and we are horrible people."

Enough.

I shall trust life.
I shall affirm and embrace
the peace and love
at its core.

I shall trust my life,
the peace and love
in this human heart.

Text and
image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.