PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

The United States of America…when I was young…this was a country I adored…

But the more I’ve grown, the more I learned…the more I see…

I don’t adore my country any more.

The fact that we were 50 states with varied cultures, histories and languages

that formed one united nation…

was a source of pride…of honor…of joy…of happiness….

and helped to stir my imagination.

I grew up thinking…believing…we were a good and honest nation…

I believed in my heart, my soul…my mind…

that we stood together for truth and righteousness…

that we were generous, compassionate, caring and kind.

So imagine my surprise…my heartache…when I realized this was never the case…

that we have always divided ourselves up by our differences…

we even invented the word race! 

This is a fact today…and throughout our history…

we can’t and should no longer hide…

as we’ve used this system of division to justify, 

oppression, slavery and even genocide.

It saddens me to think this country I thought was united…

all American sisters and brothers

is nothing more than this hierarchy of people 

some…who think they are better than all the others…

This country I grew up thinking was one diverse…

benevolent, loving and united nation…

is, despite the attempts of some, a country of discrimination.

I do believe there are enough people out there…

who want this to end…who don’t want to see this inequity and injustice anymore….

perhaps we can all come together…

to make this a country we can all be proud of…

like the one I once thought that I adored.

She was born a girl but inner heart she knows she is a boy 

and thus spends much of her young life life straddling the edge of joy. 

And it’s no different for him…in the same way his life unfurls…

as he was born a boy but in his heart he knows he is a girl.

I see them holding hands or kissing…I see them time and time again 

women who love other women…men who love other men

He likes dressing as a woman…even though he is a man…

When I first saw these people I used to stop and stare…

I tried my best to understand…

How is this even possible?  How did this come to be?

and what life must be like…for those so obviously different than me.

But the more I shared my world with them and they share their world with me…

I realized we are all just branches on the same human family tree

And though I’ll never truly understand what being on their branch is like…

I have come to understand despite our differences,…we are so much more alike.

I reached a place a beautiful place…where I no longer need to stare

as I concentrate on the things we have in common…the things that we all share.

And as my view of the world and the people in it it keeps evolving…keeps expanding….

I realized all that anybody wants in life…is acceptance, love…and understanding…

Which makes me wonder….

What if the things that make us different…

instead of being feared, condemned or banned…

What if the things that make us different…

are just different things to understand?

We met him at the Pride Parade joining all those who came there to unite…

He was wearing a blue denim dress and carrying a flag in colors blue and pink and white.

He proudly waved his transgender flag…a freedom that seemed to give him joy…

We weren’t sure if he was born a boy who knew he was a girl 

or born a girl who knew she was a boy.

But that didn’t matter to us…or anyone else who stood there by the road…

we were all impressed with the courage and the bravery this wonderful human showed.

Because today…fear and prejudice and politics have made it difficult by far…

for a transgender human to stand up proudly…and declare to the world who they are…

Which is why we were there at the parade…to lend our love, support and happiness

to celebrate with pride…all the people in the parade…and their unique humanness.

It’s fitting that we are in Cherokee country..because many native nations, 

whose traditions we so callously attempted to destroy…

believed in two-spirit people—those being born part girl…part boy.

They gave special significance to two-spirit humans…and welcomed all of them here 

believing they had a special connection to the sacred spiritual sphere.

They revered two-spirit humans…who because of their two-spirit feelings

became their spiritual and ceremonial leaders…with special powers for healing

I’d like to get back to the Native Nations way of thinking…

because the only way to make this country great…

If to ensure acceptance, truth and wisdom…supplants our prejudice, fear and hate.

When you think about it who walks in better balance

than a human who can see the world from more than one side…

Which made us proud to watch this young human wave his flag…

proud he knew he was accepted…that he didn’t have to hide.

I believe we all are born with two-spirits…certainly me…and I have no doubt…you…

It’s just some people are more blessed to have a better balance between the two.

And rather than try to shame and humiliate them…I think it’s important that we…

celebrate who they are…and who they were born to be…

Because this human holds onto the hope that one day…our world will have evolved so far…

That a human won’t need to be brave or courageous…to show the world exactly who they are

We went to the Haywood County Pride Day celebration where it was wonderful to see 

all the people In Waynesville, North Carolina who turned out to celebrate diversity.

We waved our rainbow flags at all the people walking or parading in their cars…

proud to help them celebrate exactly who they are.

When the Pride Parade was over we visited many Pride booths ..

where we happened to meet

a little girl In a make-shift booth- a blanket she had spread out on the street. 

Her booth was next to her father’s booth…where her dad let it be known

that on this Pride day he was proud she was starting a business of her own.

What caught my attention was her sign…she was selling bracelets

and she spelled bracelets with an ’s'

Her price…a reasonable $2.00…

and she made it clear she would take nothing less…

We arrived at her booth early  

where she was completing her first bracelet of the day

I was proud to be her first customer…and when it came time to pay.

she handed me the bracelet…I handed her a five dollar bill…

and for her first entrepreneurial exchange…

I was happy with my purchase 

and she was happy when I told her, “keep the change”.

Her bracelet is now hanging form the rear-view mirror in our car

to remind us to take pride everyday…in exactly who we are.

To remind us every human life is a life we should hold dear.

To remind us everyone deserves a life free from prejudice and fear…

And to remind us how our children need to grow up filled with pride and happiness….

Who knew all this joy and wisdom could be found in one little bracelet …

that’s bracelet with an ’s’.

As I walked away with the bracelet in my hand…and thinking what it meant…

I realized that may be the best $5.00 I have ever spent.

With all the troubles facing us today…

in our countries, our cities and our towns…

why is it some people get so angry

at how other people use pronouns?

When surrounded by wars, poverty, hunger, abuse of power

why does some people’s anger stem

when other people prefer to be called

he/him, she/her or they/them?

Personally, if a person is loving, compassionate and caring

if they treat everyone and the Earth with respect…

I’ll call them any name they prefer…

any label they select.

I will call them by the pronouns they prefer…

without asking their reasons why…

but when I think of them and introduce them to others

I find more beauty not in a pronoun 

but in the possessive adjective…my.

When it comes to those I love… 

When love is the message I want to send…

I prefer to say my wife, my children, my grandchildren…

my niece, my nephew…my friend.

Because for me that is where the wonder, the beauty, and the magic of life lie…

When we know and love a person long enough 

that in our heart they become a my.

 Hi mom! Hi Dad! I’m your baby…you just brought me into the world…

But as I learn to walk and talk and grow….

There is something that concerns me…something I’d like you to know.

I know you’re pretty busy falling in love with me

probably looking to each other and our family and friends for support

and since I’m already getting tired…I’ll try to keep this short.

I’m too young to know my alphabet…having just been introduced to the world and you

In fact the only letters I know right now are L G T B and Q.

I think I also heard something about a plus sign…but since I haven’t even had my first bath

I think it’s safe to assume…I know nothing about math.

But for these last nine months I’ve been silently floating in the womb…

your growing source of pride.

and during this time I’ve been listening…to what’s been going on outside.

I’ve heard and felt the fear and anger about those letters.

Heard and felt how they have hardened some people’s hearts.

I’ve heard the cries, the screams, the anger as they’ve torn some families apart.

Today you see me as your baby boy or girl….and I imagine love is all you see

but we’re all too young to know yet…if they’ll be a letter attached to me.

There’s a good chance that there won’t be…but if there is…I hope you find a way

to love me as much from that moment on…as I assume you love me today.

I hope whatever letter I am…if it happens to be L G T B or Q

It won’t impact the love you have for me…and as a consequence the love I have for you.

I hope the only letters that are important to you…for I know they will be important to me

The only letters we should care about…are  L K C A and G.

I can’t control who I am…the person I was born to be…

but I can control if I am Loving, Kind, Caring Accepting and show others generosity.

If we all concentrate on these letters…and over those other letters quit making such a fuss…

If we all could be proud of who we are…now wouldn’t that be a plus.

I hope who I am doesn’t stop you from loving me…

because here’s the last thing I want you to know

whatever letter I grow up to be…the L that stands for your love

is one thing I will never outgrow.

Today I’m channeling on of my favorite Bob Dylan songs to help me with my poem.

SHELTER FROM THE STORM

A storm has raged across this country since its inception…

swirling clouds of greed and prejudice and hate.

And as long as this storm continues…our country never will be great!

To those who have been and still feel oppressed, hopeless and forlorn…

I offer up my house to give you shelter from the storm.

To the indigenous people whose initial kindness 

we repaid with savagery and scorn…

Come in, I say, I’ll give you shelter from the storm.

To anyone whose skin color we make feel like a crown of thorns…

Come in, I say, I’ll give you shelter from the storm.

To all of you who know what gender you truly are

inside the body to which you were born…

Come in, I say, I’ll give you shelter from the storm.

To those who choose to pray and love Gods of all different forms…

Come in, I say, I’ll give you shelter from the storm.

To those who choose to love each other

whose love is met with ridicule and scorn…

Come in, I say, I’ll give you shelter from the storm.

And to all of you with a disability…know this…

we all deviate a little from the norm…

Come in, I say, I’ll give you shelter from the storm.

Even though this storm has been raging for 240 years or more…

today it seems much stronger and more destructive than before.

So now more than ever we need more people

To offer a place to keep each other protected, safe and warm….

Now more than ever we need more people to say…

Come in my friends and I will give you…shelter from the storm.

May we be blessed to understand…

to one day comprehend…

how this world is made more beautiful

by the ways our colors blend. 

I see what’s happening here…and I know it isn’t right…

We have a government doing everything it can to paint this country white.

A country where only one color is accepted as important…

one gender, one religion…one sexual preference-straight… 

but I refuse to join them down their rabbit hole of hate.

I will continue to accept and marvel at our differences…

to find peace and love and joy…

in the very things these people are trying so hard to destroy.

I want to stand up and say to the world…

in a voice as loud as it can be…

To all of you who holding the paintbrush…

you do not speak for me!

That no matter how you try…

your hate will never change my point of view…

That no matter how white you try to paint this country…

our true colors will shine through.