Better

Maybe the temperature will change
into shorts and t-shirts
at the beach and on the streets
of Savannah, Georgia.

Maybe some building
will age into student doctors
finding it easier to study and cram
for bedside manners.

Maybe the wind
will carry away the worries
of parents crying
and clocking in between heart fires.

Maybe the husband 
will stop thinking
and do what makes his wife
less heavy and more God's answer.

Maybe a child can silence
their phones,
silence their silence    and speak
without diagnosed acronyms.

Maybe graduates
are coated in grace
during commencement
so that success isn't limited to diplomas.

Maybe the desk
isn't an open birdcage
with enough amenities
to kill the joy of an open sky. 

Or maybe,
just maybe
your dark surroundings
make you shine the more

for better dirt. 

-Calvin W. Pennywell Jr. (2022)