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poetry

uS

Our identity is built upon the edges 

Our truth is formed in a blizzard

I am alarmed

I am shaken

I am broken 

We are transcending

I am cognizant of 

beauty, essence, aliveness, humanity, joy, wonder

Does this live and breathe in my soul

Will I ever be wITH

I am wITH our persistent meanness, our disorienting disregard, calculated and systemic dehumanization of people of color and women 

I am alarmed at the border and throughout the world at how we care for oUR marginalized. 

And

I can be encouraged by our desire to do better, our desire to not go gently into that good night but Rage. 

Our desire to seek comfort in one another, our desire to sit with one another, our desire to hold one another. 

Our desire to love. 

Our desire to love 

knowing 

that we will cause disappointment, alienation, indescribable pain, and suffering irreversible heartbreak. 

We know that this life becomes exponentially expansive when we engage. 

We know that change is hard, 

I know that in 

I swing on a pendulum 

between

 all knowing 

and 

know nothing

so terrifying I pretend it’s not there 

And

live as if one side

is the only side 

aN

absolute truth 

Each of uS possess

in varying degrees 

selfless love, self loathing, compassion, self righteousness

And 

we see that in others. 

We cannot see ourselves or others with perfect clarity,

only through a mosaic of sharp, cutting, sparkling, broken glass, infinite shards of grit and splendor. 

Each piece contains an incredible story yet incomplete and incomprehensible without the others. 

When we work on our mosaic, we bleed. When we invite others to work on our mosaic, they bleed. In this space, the divine enters, not to manage, not to fix but to celebrate. 

Celebrating a new creation. 

When we stop living alone and begin living together. 

i becomes uS

As we travel through our days we find necessarily ourselves in routines. Routines give the necessary foundation for exploration and discovery. 

Where do we find laughter? How do we wipe our tears? 

What is the essence of humor? What causes its bite?

Why do we want bite? Can we move backwards? 

Sideways.

I wanted to rub this itch 

Fierce. 

I reach and I miss. Do I reach again? 

Why do I recoil? 

I write these words knowing that I have failed them. 

I am ashamed of my meanness, my betrayal 

My decisions to put my comfort above those that I love. 

Why did I lash out?

Why did I betray?

Why did I abandon?

Why 

— BECAUSE —

I did not want to change. 

I am blessed with privilege to do something different. 

To become part of 

uS

I know that uS will have me

will i live in that truth

will i live wITH

uS