<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">The Turning<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div class="">There were so many times it seemed impossible;</div><div class="">Everything getting worse and worse</div><div class="">Suffering, hopelessness, corruption;</div><div class="">Dire news every day.</div><div class="">Just too much wrong,</div><div class="">And always</div><div class="">On the dark horizon</div><div class="">The looming sentence of our demise.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">It was in everything</div><div class="">Metastasized like a cancer;</div><div class="">A life threatening hatred, </div><div class="">Let loose to poison our hearts.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">But then, slowly, </div><div class="">imperceptibly at first,</div><div class="">when all hope seemed lost,</div><div class="">Things started to turn.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">A girl from Sweden,</div><div class="">A demonstration of youth, </div><div class="">A regulation that held;</div><div class="">A town that stood its ground,</div><div class="">A truth that was louder than lies.</div><div class="">A fire that was extinguished,</div><div class="">A kindness that was extended,</div><div class="">A moral fiber that poked through the tattered web </div><div class="">and began the mending.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">It gathered strength in</div><div class="">The steady march of the silent, electric cars, </div><div class="">the gleaming solar panels, </div><div class="">and the Greening, Oh the Greening, </div><div class="">everywhere we could</div><div class="">The rooftops and sidewalks, and windowsills, spilling into sunlight.</div><div class="">We’d hardly noticed the birds were missing </div><div class="">until they began to sing again.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Eventually the corruption gave way</div><div class="">Like corroded metal, </div><div class="">Collapsing under the weight of people’s hearts.</div><div class="">Politicians falling through their selfish webs,</div><div class="">First one, then another, </div><div class="">Until like dominoes, they were scattered on the dust heap of history.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The stench was gone.</div><div class="">The hatred just no fun anymore;</div><div class="">Even the worst had no taste for it.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">We picked up the pieces, scattered over the land.</div><div class="">We were quiet. </div><div class="">We were humbled.</div><div class="">We were careful.</div><div class="">We listened. </div><div class="">We sang.</div><div class="">We told new stories.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">We barely even noticed when it began.</div><div class="">But looking back, </div><div class="">It was happening all along.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><span style="font-family: Arial;" class="">And then, at last, we laughed.</span></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Anodea Judith</div></div></div></div></body></html>