Written by Thu Tran, MD,FACOG
December 27, 2016
Good Bones
Life is short, though I keep this from my children.
Life is short, and I’ve shortened mine
in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways,
a thousand deliciously ill-advised ways
I’ll keep from my children. The world is at least
fifty percent terrible, and that’s a conservative
estimate, though I keep this from my children.
For every bird there is a stone thrown at a bird.
For every loved child, a child broken, bagged,
sunk in a lake. Life is short and the world
is at least half terrible, and for every kind
stranger, there is one who would break you,
though I keep this from my children. I am trying
to sell them the world. Any decent realtor,
walking you through a real shithole, chirps on
about good bones: This place could be beautiful,
right? You could make this place beautiful.
Maggie Smith
On the meaning of “Good Bones,” poet Maggie Smith stated in an interview:
“I think of this poem, and many of the poems I’ve written since having children, as being conflicted: How do we love this world as it is, with all of its flaws and dangers, and how do we to teach our kids to love it? How do we “sell them the world” without lying to them about its realities? How do we let them see the rotten parts—because we must, eventually—and how do we empower them to do good and force change?”
Like Maggie Smith, I believe the world is full of conflicts. We can, however, empower children or young adults to do good and force change by showing them our actions to make these changes happen. To make this world more beautiful, we have to show our children how we have to be willing to work hard for many causes to allow justice to bloom like a gardener carefully tending to his flowers.
With another new year about to begin, we wish you peace, good health and happiness. We wish you strength to face changes, clarity to recognize the good and bad changes, and courage to stand up and ensure the changes will be good for all of us in the community. May we all have love and tolerance for each other.
May we also, together, take good care of the earth we inhabit, recognizing that many human actions can leave a vulnerable planet for the generations to come. May we have the courage to fight for our environment, for the sake of our children.
Happy New Year to you all,
Thu
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