The Doorstop that Couldn’t Stop

 

It started with a whisper: “We look poor.”

She said it tenderly.

She worked hard every day to make our space feel cared for. The least I could do was replace our doorstop — a forgotten object, past its prime, overlooked but still used daily.

 

The old brown wedge

had given years

to heavy doors

and hurried people.


 

The little cheese wedge

now gives joy

to tired halls

of public servants.


Public Servant at Work

I showed my sister, a public school teacher.

“We have that same doorstop,” she said. “Same condition too. Tired.”

And there it was.

Not just our doorstop.

A whole category of things still working, still worn down, still holding open doors.

Public institutions do not care for themselves.

A public servant does.

~ The Village Sisters

 
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Dear Village: Letters for the Babies Who Belong to All of Us

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