they say
not to judge
because you never know
what someone
might be going through

but i’d adjust that
ever so slightly
to say
don’t judge someone
because you never know what someone
might be going
or still be going
through

because
there may be some
who
if you know their current life
well
they could bee going through
a whole ton
of good
but still
their mind is trying
to make sense
of a hardship
that happened
years and years before;
whether because
childhood trauma tends to stunt
the receiver
at that age
until healing can fully
occur,
or because they may have gone through
a whole ton of shit
at once
and they needed to only unpack
one traumatic suitcase
at a time
so now’s the time
to look into
not only what happened
so long ago
but also what holding on to it
for so long
made them feel,
or maybe they simply have never gotten
the help
(professional or otherwise)
they needed
to get through that thing.

so i suppose what i’m trying to say
is don’t judge other people.

that being said,
i offer love and compassion
to a point–
i don’t really care how many traumas you
were exposed to
at whatever age,
if you start taking your rage
out on folks
who have less than you,
who your power holds
a tight strangle-hold over,
and you don’t offer them
the compassion i’m offering you,
that offer is rescinded.
and keep your damn legislation
off of the backs
of Black,
Indigenous
folks,
people of color,
especially those who you deem ‘lesser than’
because they can
create life inside,
and especially
especially
get your laws away
from trans folks,
particularly trans children,
who are just trying to survive
in this life
that could be a joy
if you’d just let it.
and of course
maybe, just maybe, let us
have some healthy Earth
to give to future generations.