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I found out about this poem from my good friend, Jenny Collins, who said, “As we head into what is likely to be an intense year, I share these words as a guidepost for myself and our tribe.”

CONTINUE: a poem
by Maya Angelou

My wish for you
Is that you continue
Continue

To be who and how you are
To astonish a mean world
With your acts of kindness 
Continue

To allow humor to lighten the burden
Of your tender heart 
Continue

In a society dark with cruelty
To let the people hear the grandeur
Of God in the peals of your laughter 
Continue

To let your eloquence
Elevate the people to heights
They had only imagined 
Continue

To remind the people that
Each is as good as the other
And that no one is beneath
Nor above you 
Continue

To remember your own young years
And look with favor upon the lost
And the least and the lonely 
Continue

To put the mantle of your protection
Around the bodies of
The young and defenseless 
Continue

To take the hand of the despised
And diseased and walk proudly with them
In the high street
Some might see you and
Be encouraged to do likewise 
Continue

To plant a public kiss of concern
On the cheek of the sick
And the aged and infirm
And count that as a
Natural action to be expected 
Continue

To let gratitude be the pillow
Upon which you kneel to
Say your nightly prayer
And let faith be the bridge
You build to overcome evil
And welcome good 
Continue

To ignore no vision
Which comes to enlarge your range
And increase your spirit 
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To dare to love deeply
And risk everything
For the good thing 
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To float
Happily in the sea of infinite substance
Which set aside riches for you
Before you had a name 
Continue

And by doing so
You and your work
Will be able to continue
Eternally