I Can’t Pretend
Every sunrise,
a new bomb drops
both figuratively
and literally.
To witness this
is beyond exhausting.
It’s gut-wrenching.
It is heartbreaking.
There are moments
when I pretend all is OK.
But it is NOT...
I CAN'T PRETEND
climate change doesn’t exist
while we sit in suffocating heat
and drown in floods.
I CAN'T PRETEND
immigrants snatched away
are all bad people
and don’t belong—
even having arrived unlawfully.
I CAN'T PRETEND
we are not being ripped off by the government
while our social and medical services
are being stripped.
I CAN'T PRETEND
guns don’t kill children,
and adults,
and ourselves—
no matter our rights
to bear arms.
I CAN'T PRETEND
that some of our children,
veterans,
and older adults
don’t go hungry
and live in poverty.
I CAN'T PRETEND
our leaders do not know
right from wrong
when they are so cruel to
the people they supposedly represent.
I CAN'T PRETEND
something isn’t terribly wrong with us
when we can no longer
be civil to one another.
I CAN'T PRETEND
we are not witnessing
a slow-motion catastrophe
coming straight for us.
I WON'T PRETEND
ALL IS OK.
Will you?
Until we collectively decide
this is not the way
we want to live our lives,
the injustices to humanity
and to Mother Earth
will only persist.
🌿
The act of NOT pretending
is the first step
towards truth.
🌿
May we courageously
take that first step.