Rebellious Thoughts of a Woman

Cleaning up in Lake Accotink Park

Has the world changed?

It still revolves around the sun.

Daylight comes in the morning and

Dusk darkens into evening.

People kill.

People mourn.

Some shout yes, others shout no.

There are those who no longer love,

And those who want to love.

I’m just checking because there must be differences

Since hate and negativity are in ascendance everywhere

I read and hear.

But if I look

I see the unfurling seeds and

Petals floating in the warming air.

It is then that it comes to me that politics is not life,

And we, the you and me who breathe breath into the world,

Will overwhelm, always, eventually, that which tries to break and impede.

Our stance, our backs, our commitment

To optimism, to believing in the eternal

Triumph of good over evil.

Spring

Gray clouds hover over the dimming day,

I turn to an empty room and into that which hovers

I sigh a prayer of and for compassion,

For seeing that your toes and mine need to tread lightly,

Honoring that which exists without us, beyond us;

That differences that define should not negate.

But I worry that they cannot perceive  

My humanity because of

Labels

That state but do not

Respect.

Look into my eyes,

Be close enough to have no fear:

Why do you want me not to live freely?

Why do you want to shout over my voice?

Why do you not recognize my needs—my humanity?

We each have a life to live,

One life!

Overcome the call to smother, instead

Remember that no one is always right.

Trust me—

I will not cause the earth to tremble or the

Heavens to fall.

It is merely my voice and my heart—

Beating against yours

For acknowledgement that I have

A right to my opinions, my presence,

My equality—

Our equality.

Holocaust Memorial Service, JCC NOVA