Category Archives: change

Nationwide Protest

For anyone who has been
paying attention
the ditch we find ourselves in
was the obvious destination
all the accumulation
of micro-choices and not choosing
all the heads in the sand
the failure of imagination
And yet in the cycling of everything as it
inevitably does, time moving along
this too shall pass
And the days ahead
will be shaped by what we do
with what was given
with what words are spoken aloud
Do not despair
it is not hopeless
I will admit
it is monstrously dark
but now you can see
all the united pinpoints of light
gathering in the crowded streets

Margaret Dubay Mikus
© 2025

From my poetic journal,
written after the first “No Kings” protest in June.

Spheres of Influence

(Conversation during surgery with Dr. James Lahti)

The smallest sphere
over which you have some control
some potential influence
is close around you
like an ample balloon skin
In that sphere it is possible
someone might listen
(like you, even)
might pay attention
be swayed, persuaded
by your passion or conviction
might choose to change

The next sphere out
a bit larger, more diffuse
more indirect, you may still
affect the outcome
Your intensity, thoughtfulness
your clarity, honesty
can elevate the energy
enough to shift
something, someone

Start where you are
do not wait for perfection
Do what you can
Breathe. Rest often

The biggest sphere—
over which you have no control
is most of everything
But with others, in the aggregate
you may move recalcitrant mountains
Alone—nothing. Together—maybe
And in that sphere if you
in your naïve intensity
in your innocent propensity
put all your life energy, your belief
in fairness, the way life should be
you will burn out your engine
spinning your tires until they shred
and you are left with a husk

So…don’t do that
spend all your preciousness
on nothing.
FOCUS
your innate inner light where it can
do the most good in the day to day
Join others who are like-minded
Notice and step back when you’ve slipped
into spinning your wheels to no end

Do it for yourself, for all of us
for now and ever. Amen.

Margaret Dubay Mikus
© 2025

From my poetic journal
9/16/25

Advice

IL Route 22, Sept. 2017, copyright MDMikus

1/22/25

Advice

Pace yourself
this is a marathon
not a sprint to the finish
Do not let in
more than you can stand
Mistakes are made
learn from them
no shame, no blame
Apologize if appropriate
forgive if you can
no point in carrying
the extra rock-sack burden
up a steep scree slope
Remember to be grateful
remember to breathe
remember to be where you are
not leaping ahead to some
potential future dark doom
however vividly envisioned.

Margaret Dubay Mikus
© 2025

From my poetic journal.
I keep coming back to these lines as a necessary touchstone-reminder in these chaotic times. “Pace yourself…remember”…if I am getting overwhelmed.

The Kind of Silk Parachutes Are Made Of

Waterfire, Providence, RI by M D Mikus Copyright 2010

2/9/17

The Kind of Silk Parachutes Are Made Of

(After Crystal, Peter Mulvey, Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Love is not reserved
for those deemed deserving
the few familiar inner circle

Love is the necessary antidote
to pervasive poisonous fear
let the shadows

be brought to the light
Fear cannot neutralize fear
only love can do that

not the mushiness
of pop culture love
but the surprising strength

of love-silk, each energy fiber
made and woven
by determined due diligence

the healing of tenderness
Love is power, not force
seeing the best in

and holding that sacred space
with hope, but not expectation
Not the dark pull of what is happening

But…
who are you in relation to this?
What are your choices?

Can you take 1 minute and send
to our White House
glitter sprinkles of love

a blizzard of love
At first they evaporate like
snowflakes on a hot July sidewalk

but persist—even a little bit
added to millions of bits
can cover in love as a blanket

“only love in, only love out.”
It takes so little to try it
and keep on…love as a radical act

of resistance
of resilience
of resolution
of revolution
of resurrection

Margaret Dubay Mikus
(c) 2017

From my poetic journal.
Published in Journal of Modern Poetry, vol. 21, “Dear Mr. President,” 2018

Later Looking Back

3/22/20

Later Looking Back

Good will come of this
you will see, not now but later
looking back after this crisis is over

While the old life is crumbling away
it feels like loss, and the unknown overwhelms
the usual complacency. But

at some point farther than this minute
the future is playing out in all its
various possible strands to weave

And as we choose, we create
we become aware, more or less
of the ongoing co-creative process

Some will settle in, take the pill back
to previous unconscious oblivion
but some will stay completely open

And that may be enough

Margaret Dubay Mikus
© 2020

From my poetic journal.