Vox Populi
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Moudi Sbeity: Something Rather Than Nothing
after Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
The earth stands at an estimated thirteen septillion pounds.
That’s every living thing combined,
times the weight of our grief and every uttered joy,
added to whatever stunned grace keeps us in motion.
Contemplate this –
We are delicately held in the balance between
the bottomless fall into despair and the edging
determination to turn and face the sun.
Everything we know to be true, all thirteen
septillion pounds of it, is held by the intricacy
of a hair’s measure rising and falling in stasis.
Still, we are here, broken and alive,
under the providence of a round sky.
What can be more holy than this?
The ground beneath our feet,
the stories we carry from one day to the next,
the fluency of rivers as a reminder of something
rather than nothing.
Copyright 2025 Moudi Sbeity
Moudi Sbeity is a Lebanese American poet, writer, and psychotherapist based in Boulder, Colorado. Moudi’s first book, Habibi Means Beloved, a memoir on growing up queer and stuttering in Lebanon, is expected to be published in late 2026 by University of Utah Press.
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Such a gorgeous poem!
“Still, we are here, broken and alive” Yes!
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Yes!
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Magnificent and memorable.
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Oh beloved Moudi, I love the way you turn us toward the holy, which is everywhere we turn. ❤️❤️❤️
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I very much admire and appreciate this poem.
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I do too, Christine.
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Thank you everyone for the kind words, and Michael for sharing this poem. What a joy to read your reflections. May today stun you into the center of your own heart ❤
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I love this poem — the first 4 lines pulled me right into it — and that it is “after Rosemerry” is perfect!
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I love this poem as well. Thanks, Laure-Anne!
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“delicately held in the balance between
the bottomless fall into despair and the edging
determination to turn and face the sun.” I am eager to see more from this poet. Thank you, Michael, for introducing is words to me.
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I’m sure you’ll see more, Barb. A talent like this doesn’t remain secret long.
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A stunning poem
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yes, it is.
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i love the message in this . . .
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“stunned grace”–yes
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