I was nearly made small
surrounded and hemmed in
by small thinking
petty thinking
reactionary
narrow
inside-the-box
the cardboard box
thinking
or the absence of thinking
I felt my thoughts grow small
puny
longing to retaliate
in small-mindedness
crawl into that place
with its sub-basement conduct
underground deportment
after all–that’s what they did
that’s how they treated me
that’s what they would understand
low
lower
base
baser
Into my plans
shot an arrow of light
a spark of wisdom
from above
smallness is their distinctive
small-minded actions
puny-minded words
only confirmed I was one of them
but I didn’t want to be
that’s not who I’m meant to be
The only way to communicate
with the puny mind
is to be big
bigger
big-hearted
gi-normous
put aside every bit of smallness
every shred of puny thinking
be generous to a fault
overlook the wrongs
live above
live big
smallness is not a question of size
smallness is inside
a state of mind
and the state of living that follows
No one can make me small.
by MaryBeth Mullin
Copyright 2020
