<html aria-label="message body"><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><div dir="auto" style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space; font-size: 22px;">Small Affirmations<br><br>I keep thinking I need a place where time is different<br>where things are measured in looks, in handshakes<br>or in someone communicating by drawing pictures<br>with a branch on the ground. I am missing<br>some internal blast from fate that will shake me out<br>of the routines I have fallen into.<br>I keep thinking of the girl who ran up to me in Mexico<br>with a baby in her arms. How my friends said<br>she is just conning you. How I gave her everything I had<br>which wasn’t much, but I felt a shift occurring.<br>I felt I was finally in the miraculous seam of the earth<br>where we are all thrown together and some have food<br>and some don’t and a touch is all that matters.<br>I keep thinking if I could just get back<br>to that Greek island where time slows down<br>to a shared heartbeat, everything will fall into place.<br>Then I think maybe I will build a bonfire<br>in the back field tonight, maybe I will be alone<br>for the rest of my life. Maybe nothing matters anymore<br>but that look in the eye, or nod of the head<br>between strangers on the street<br>creating small affirmations<br>of this life we all share.<br><br><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Devreaux Baker</div></body></html>