A sweet thing happened this afternoon
A sweet thing worth calling up your people
With a voice full of shocked and happy tears
Worth opening a bottle of wine
Worth punching the air
Crying out in surprised joy
Whispering “HOLY SHIT”
A sweet thing
Worth a sigh of relief
A hug for your father
A bottle of wine
A glass raised high
For the work that was done
For all the momentum accomplished
For the people who believed
In what was right
And took a stand.

A sweet thing happened today.
But it was a close thing.

And there is still work to be done.

To begin with
Be careful out there in the dark
In the places where people are furious
Where too many are furious
Especially those of you
Who have watched your fundamental rights
Go before the courts
Who are still watching those rights debated
Stay safe. You already know how.
I’m so sorry.

This place is still imperfect
And there’s still work to be done
So don’t lose that momentum.
Don’t lose this spirit
Of anger
Of compassionate action
Don’t let go of what you believe
Even as you feel this relief
There is still so much work to be done.
So keep fighting
In all the tiny ways
That don’t mean very much on their own
Keep believing

So that over time
There will be more sweet moments
Moments they can never take away.