News incites our fears
All around us
We’re surrounded
By the hate, the greed,
The jeers
All the racism
All the violence
Misogyny
And apathy
While our souls
They scream for
Kindness
Curse the blindness
That got us here
Don’t lose hope
We are awakening
Don’t give up
Love will win
We’ll overcome
Lift up our neighbors
Bring the homeless in
Diversity will
Have a place
Inclusion
Gentle words
The human race
Isn’t finished
Not yet
We can still be one
Your homeland
Burnt that soft place to land
Searching for the remnants
Broken compass
Lost the path
Staring into empty air
Seeking even a shadow
To cradle your weary head
Sending out a beacon
Signaling your despair
Pleading for a rescue
From a burning
Pit of toxic ash
It was you who set the fire
That burned the forest
Took that love shack
To the ground
Walls of your lies
Were easy tinder
There is no architecture
For forgiveness
Without a blueprint
Of remorse
But you built on a
foundation of sand
To build with stone
It takes a man
Not the coward
With matches in his pocket
Flash your lights
Call for mercy
Call for soft words
It’s gonna be a hard year
With no warm bed
Your arson
Brought you here
How does it taste?
The loss
The emptiness
No soothing words
When all has gone to hell in a hand basket
Does it taste gray
Like desperation
Or beige like
Chunks of your soul
Broken off, dying
Perhaps it is red
Sharp
The bite of an angry gaping wound
Regret
Burning like whiskey
And you can’t hold your liquor
Bitter and strong
Like sleeping alone
With no heart to warm you
Does it rise up
In your throat like bile
Undigested jumble
Of memories and longings
For soft words, kind smiles
The patience and trust
You spilled on the ground
A careless transaction
Bought you a cold bed
Drink deep
Learn to love the taste
Of a ghost
You poured this glass
Yourself
More than anything
I want you to thrive
I want you to choose yourself
To rise above the
Lovers and the losers
Fickle men
With weak minds
And weaker hearts
I want you to succeed
To bloom and grow
Until you are so tall
You can look over their
Heads and see past
Past the indecision
Past their self-centered needs
Push them out of the way
Look into the mirror, and SEE
The fabulous creature
You’ve always been
