Joy Ladin

SONG: Comfort Song by Laura Woodley Osman

POEM: Joy Ladin: Comfort Animal (excerpt): … You want to cry? Cry about that. Who do you think created / the animals to whom you turn for comfort, dogs, miniature horses, monkeys, ferrets, hungers you know how to feed, fears you know how to quiet? I form them, fur them, it’s my warmth radiating from their bodies, my love that answers / the love you lavish upon them. Your deserts and desolations are highways I travel, smoothing your broken places, arranging stars and constellations / to light your wilderness. Sometimes I play the shepherd; sometimes I play the lamb …

QUOTE: Veronica Roth: Sometimes, the best way to help someone is just to be near them.