Category: Poetry

Hate

Bigotry

Pain

War

Ignorance

 

Repeat

 

Repeat

 

No listening

No learning

No communicating effectively

 

We bicker

We raise our voices

To reiterate the fact that we are right

And you are wrong

 

There is no gray area

I hate you because you don’t believe what I believe

I will not listen to your experience

I will not try to understand why you believe what you do

 

Instead

 

I will complain

I will yell

I will cry

I will scream

That it’s not fair

That people are crazy

That our country is doomed

 

I will feel helpless

Hopeless

All fight gone

All drive gone

Limp

And lifeless

 

I will continue the cycle

 

Hate

Bigotry

Pain

War

Ignorance

 

I will live in my bubble

I will not listen to you

I will not love you

I will not do anything

But wait

 

Wait for the time when I do not have to feel angry

For a time when all of those around me believe like me

For a time when we can all agree

For a time when I do not have to raise my voice just to try to be heard

 

I will wait

 

And nothing will get done

 

I stand

Shoulders back

Which is hard for someone so used to using poor posture

To cower down

And hide away

 

I stand

Smile wide

No longer to try to make up for something

But showing what I know is inside

What I know I can do

 

I stand

Ready for anything

Instead of butterflies

I feel the quiet

The calm

I can do it

 

I stand

Ready for conversation

No longer shying away

No longer trying to skate by

But wanting to form relationships

Wanting to make a difference

In someone’s life

In my own

 

I stand

Thoughts positive

Radiating outward

Spreading love

To others

To myself

 

I stand

Excited

With what I’ve done

With how far I’ve come

For the future

For my life

 

So I push my shoulders back

I smile bright

I stand

Ready for anything

Ready for my life

 

I know now

That I am brave

That I have changed

That I am strong

That I am confident

That I can do this

That I have done it

 

That I will continue

Improving

Changing

Smiling

Standing tall

 

I will continue

 

I can do this

 

 

Home

Is it where I have been all my life?
The same room
The same kitchen
The same yard

The same life

Is it who I’m with?
My mom
My brother
My pets

Can it only describe one place?
Stationary and unmoving
No place just like it?

Or can it be reinvented?
Can moving be creating a new home?
Will change create a new home?
A new normal?

But what happens to the old?

Leaving behind the life I knew
What is next?
Where will I go?
How will I feel?

Can home be created a thousand times
A million times
In a lifetime?

The next home I go
Will be far away
Far away from the life I knew

Loss and change have taken people away
There is sadness and triumph
Who will fill my new home?

All of this
Change
Excitement
Fear
Will be used to create

A new life

A new normal

A new home

And it all starts with me