July 10, 2022

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that offer is rescinded.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.

June 19, 2022

Juneteenth
a word i had never heard
until the summer before my
senior year in high school
when i started hanging around
Oberlin, Ohio

Juneteenth
a day i didn’t know the history of
until i had the information coming at me
from multiple sources
(my own research/
podcasts about history/
friends who loved educating)
well into my second attempt at college

Juneteenth
a celebration i don’t think i fully understood
until living in New York
through the surge of Black Lives Matter
marches
/
protests
in 2020

Juneteenth
this year
we’re hosting a small gathering of friends
and we are excited to be the ones
doing the work
hosting
cooking
serving
celebrating
because if the United States isn’t going to put on its
Big-Government-Pants
and hand out reparations owed,
we might as well start
one family at a time.

February 27, 2022

almost done
with the worst month

(though, to be fair, i have learned to admire parts of
february:
i get to learn so much about Black/African American culture and history,
i get to find folks who i admire
and they readily send out their paypals
and venmos
and cashapps
so i can compensate them for their education,
give my tiny portion of reparations,
i find lists of lists of artists/stores/crafters/everything
to use not only this month
but for birthdays
and holidays
and no-reason-needed gift-buying,
the amount of color coming across my screen
in february
is truly gorgeous
and i make sure to like for the algorithm
and follow for my own list
so it can stay that way
year ‘round.)

(the only other part of february
i truly enjoy
is that it is so close to the new year
that everything still feels pretty possible;
the resolutions not dropped
seem so much closer to becoming
reality
but there’s still time,
being only month two,
to re-start any failed habits
(or pick up ones that weren’t obvious
on 1/1)
)

otherwise,
worst month.
cold.
bleak.
not nearly as exciting as january
about it being a new year.
the days and dates the same as march
so my maybe-adhd/maybe-dyslexic/maybe-something-else brain
continues to suffer
the past experiences
of switched months,
the embarrassment
and shame
and confusion as i carefully read the month
but still end up wrong.
and you may think that the shortness of it,
the 28 days as opposed to 30+
would be a relief,
but that is
far
from the case:
i had so much i wanted to accomplish
this month
and now i’m running out of february days
in which to accomplish it;
normally the 27th would indicate a close to the end
but you still have time
dates
days
to next month,
but no,
tomorrow is the last day
to accomplish
anything
great
in february

so fuck february
thank goodness it’s almost over
but also
why did it go by so fast?