In Protest

Dear friend,

I thought about it a lot and here is my additional take.

This country’s constitution gives you the freedom to protest. The freedom to like this country’s ways, to be disappointed in the government, to decide not to honor the flag because you don’t feel that the use of the flag is honoring you and yours.  

I think standing up for the flag is something that fills us with pride and makes our hearts swell. But for some of us it makes our hearts hurt, and those don’t feel the swell of pride but the ache and anger of hurt. So they don’t want to do it. 

I am sorry for their anger. And yes, like you, I feel there are other ways they can contribute to the fixing of this great America. But to my knowledge, our Constitution does not stipulate that we must stand for the flag or the National Anthem. But it DOES stipulate that all citizens be treated equally and be given equal rights under the law. THAT is still not happening in the USofA. 

Not for women in the same jobs as men being paid the same salaries

Not for children who are brought to this country when they are small and knowing ONLY this country and paying taxes and trying to work towards Citizenship - now being told to leave. Even if they served in the armed forces and fought for this country.

Not for many men of color who are stopped indiscriminitely by the police just because they THINK this person is in the wrong neighborhood.

Not for many other mentally ill, poor, homeless and disenfranchised citizenry.

Not for the thousands that are killed by crazy persons who are able to amass arsenals and buy as many guns as they like and perpetrate violence because our citizenry will not stand up and change that law. And enforce others.

So as much as I, citizen xxx, respect our flag, enjoy hearing the national anthem, and try to do my small part to make our country improve…. I also as xxx citizen, respect the right of each citizen equal to I, to make their protest per their 1st Amendment right.    

Change comes when the citizenry finds their eyes opened by the discomfort forced upon them by those who try to tell us that change is necessary. 

Hugs,

Anonymous 

5-16-17

I fall in love with myself every afternoon. I lay in my bed, braless and bronzed. I want you to know the shape my breasts take when I lay on my back. The divot below my sternum that snakes down to my belly button. The flush and the freckles on my sun-kissed cheeks, the smell of the outdoors on the nape of my neck where my baby hairs fall. The grit on my hands from the things I've touched, touching the grit in your hair behind your ears. The taste of grapefruits and bitter beers on my tongue. The salt on my upper lip. I want you to know me. Fall into me. Fall in love with me too. 

Anonymous

Life whispers listen closely

I used to pretend the wind carried me secrets from the trees and plants. Still do sometimes.

Sunshine

Thank you

Hello. You won't remember who I am. But thank you for what you did when we were young. I'm glad to see you changed for the better, ____. Have a good life. :)

Anonymous

Release the familiar

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power. The security of love and true friends is worth more than anything in the world.

Sunshine

To the lady behind the bar,

You are going to be fine. Happy, single, and free.

Sunshine

To Someone Defining,

I wish I had a secret language with you. I miss you. I wish you would tell me. Do I need to be afraid?

Sunshine

Dear Moon,

I saw you

Sunshine
 

To his telemeter,

do we want this now?

love takes us blindly forward

life leads us astray

-wings of maybe

To a fox,

You're not supposed to leave a place because of a person. But I think this time I should. You poke at me, shake me, lash out when I lean in. Are you grabbing me to pull me close? Your eyes tell me otherwise. I wriggle free. I never find out. You remind me of mistakes I'd already made peace with. You scream that they're still alive. With you, they are. You are. You're right. I love you. I love me. But you do not. And so I am free.

Love,

A whale

Dear dreams,

Where are you?

Sunshine

To nobody,

I write to make sense. I think to feel. I feel to empathize. I can't empathize, so I'm trying not to think, so I can't write.

Sunshine

To someone hurting,

" is the sun so selfish 

Because it will set now?

Is the wind a jerk because it changed?

Would you call the earth an asshole 

for turning round and round?

You know, know it never ever stays in just one place  "

That part of the song always puts a smile on my face.

I hope it does for you too

Anonymous

To my roots, to nothingness, to You,

I am wishing for a Doctor to come take it all away. To erase this from happening, to postpone it, to rewrite it. I am feeling helpless, and alone, and terrified, and suddenly afraid of death. I have never been so actively afraid of dying. Of your death. Now I'm feeling all morbid. Not spacey wacey but human and unchangeable. I know I have to find a way to change it myself, take a step to the left, to the right, find another truthful angle. Because I love you and I will go with you. Inevitably. But how do I land such a leap? This is insurmountable space.

I've felt this before- teetering on the edge of a precipice looking into a void. I can see the other side. I can see where I'll come up for air I can see the outcome. But I know I have to go in and I don't want to.

That one snuck up on me. I only blinked and then suddenly I knew where I was, what I had to do- no choice. This feels more like walking towards it, slowly- towards the cliff, and I can't tell how deep the valley is or how dark or how steep, or even how far away I am from the edge...

I love you! Don't go!

And- Thank you. Thank you.

What happens when you haven't written in a long time, when you can't sleep, when someone you love may lay dying? You make peace with reality by dreaming. You accept where you are and what is happening and allow yourself to be a little morbid.

I will MISS YOU. I am SO GRATEFUL.

Your Sunshine

To someone who knows me,

So much is going to change soon, and when I'm not reassuring you- I'm scared, too. Not in an of-the-unknown kind of way, but in a I-know-this-will-hurt but it-will-be-more-than-ok kind of way. I'm so happy and excited for you, for us, for everyone involved. But I will miss you in ways we both know very well. And I'm scared to feel that ache. To know that wish. To stare into the place you fill up.

I don't know how I'd do it without you!