if faith is not the sunrise 
   after a rainy night 
if hope is not the broken vase 
   lovingly restored 
if love is not the photo of me 
   in a ripped Saints T-shirt 
      and garden clogs watering 
         a wounded tree with my grandson 
            on my hip 

then this life of surviving 
   breakages and flood 
      firestorms and quakes 
is a comedy penned 
   by some cruel hand 

but here comes the miracle 
   sippy cup in one hand 
a soft book of baby animals 
   in the other 

crawling into my lap 
   for another afternoon 
of paradise 

Terry Jude Miller

is a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet from Houston. He received the 2018 Catherine Case Lubbe Manuscript Prize for his book, The Drawn Cat’s Dream. His work has been published in the Southern Poetry Anthology, The Lily Poetry Review, The Comstock Review, The Oakland Review, and in scores of other publications. He serves as First Vice Chancellor for the National Federation of State Poetry Societies.