Certainty

[intertext]

I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the heart's affections and the truth of the imagination (John Keats)

My creative writing students are a passionate bunch, and many of them are activists and advocates of causes. Today, I asked them to think about things they are _not_ certain of, because they seem so confident in their beliefs, and perhaps I feel that such absolutism is not safe these days.

That, of course, makes me wonder about what I AM certain of...

I am certain of warmth, and light, and laughter
I am certain of bread, and wine, and clear water
I am certain of friendship
I am certain of the love of my animals, of the new growth of plants in springtime, of the heat of the sun.
I am certain of poetry, of beauty, of the possibility of joy
I am certain of cruelty, of injustice, of humanity's potential for brutality,
But I am also certain of redemption, of hope,

of love.