Inspired by Michael Powell, “34 Miles Forward,1000 Years Back” The New York Times, D1, D7, November 13, 2017.

LIFE LESSONS FROM A SURVIVOR.
 

I work with troubled youth
because I was hurt as a child.
To the kids in the juvenile detention center,
I say how nice they’re looking.
I want them to know, You are somebody.
There are steps between believing and achieving,
but if you conceive it in your mind
and fix it in your heart,
you can persevere.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness.
Only light can.

To live a life without contradictions
is to live the life of an insect.
The fly that won’t leave the corpse
will end up in the grave.