Problems?

Dented fender
No time for coffee
Chipped nail
Wrong shoes

Called for jury
Dog chewed new sofa
Team lost
Flat tire

Trip was cancelled
Still stuck in traffic
More rain
Missed bus

On and on
All the problems
Spiraling quickly
Every day

Yet, let me ask,
in my motherly voice,
Really problems?
Or mere inconveniences?

For on the list
I see no war,
no death,
no abandonment

I see no tears,
no hunger
no sickness
or pain

Shall we reserve the “problems”
for the disenfranchised,
the “others”,
the homeless?

The people of color,
or those who are “different”?
The non-English speakers,
the elderly or frail?

I ask of you only this…

If you sleep tonight with a belly full,
your loved ones safe and sound,
a roof over your head and a few dollars
(or more) in your pocket…

Can you kneel and pray for those with real problems?

Tori Burris Inkley
4/13/26