Following my first post, this too is a poem that I wrote in the creative wave I had the few days after the 2016 election. It does not necessarily reflect my current state of mind.

The words fly out on the page

fueled by hurt and

disappointment and

pain and

tears.

But my mouth is still

stock full of silence.

I have not even begun

to process the stream

of thoughts inside me.

I'm expected to know

what to say.

what to think.

what to do.

how to process and

speak intelligently.

But I cannot.

I feel lost and helpless,

like I could never do enough.

Yet I also feel inspired

and bursting full of love--but

how much love do I have to give?

Can it create a bridge over

the line drawn in sand?

The words fly out on the page

but the melody is lost.

Solid.

cold.

words.

nothing more.

for I do not know what else to give.

Concrete words to try to sort it out

but still I cannot find

the voice, the melody

that I believe is within.

Solid.

cold.

words.

which I will turn into actions.

Just not today.

header photo credit: Green Chameleon

I've decided to start a new mini-series of blog posts called "Reacting," which is my response to the election. There are a million thoughts swirling around my head, and this has fueled me to start speaking out more. I often feel lost in the wave of activism, but I want this to be part of my contribution. If this picks up, I think I'd like to have other people write their own reactionary posts. Mine will range from poems and songs written in the aftermath, to blog posts, to activism messages. Really, it's just a collection of my reaction to this election, whatever form that may take at any given moment. This is the first post of many. This is in raw form. I wrote it in the moment and have not edited it. It may not be perfect and maybe worded in a way that I did not intend, but I want to keep it in its original form.

Hollow

I feel hollow,

torn down,

worn out,

like I've had the breath

knocked out of me.

There are voices

everywhere,

but they can't drown out

the thoughts in my head.

I feel hollow,

and I can't find words

for what's swirling in my brain.

There are voices

everywhere,

and I want to say something,

but I just don't have it in me yet.

We fight...

for love, for hate,

right now it almost

feels the same.

We play a blame game,

a name game,

but we're all the losers here.

Daggers leaving me

even more broken.

Not just a national tragedy

but also one within.