Built Strong

Sometimes people build
Relationships around
What they are
Against

United by

A common enemy

While others build

Relationships around
What they are
For

United by
A common cause

It’s an interesting way

To build things

Different than

Building relationships
Around mutual growth
And shared discovery
 
So that someday
When our opinions
About what
We are for
Or against
Differ

The relationship can survive

Because it’s built strong
From the inside

Not based on what

We are for
Or against
 
Based only on what
We have learned
About each other
 
Based only
On who
We are

What Are We Going To Do About Peace

And what
Are we going to do
About peace

When we won’t even listen

To each other’s stories

When we don’t even care

That others have a story to tell

When we don’t ask

What people carry deep inside

What are we going to do

About understanding

When we aren’t

The least bit curious
About anyone else’s life
 
When we don’t
Exert any effort
To see life
Through another’s eyes
 
When we don’t  
Care to consider
What it might be like
To wake up every day
And walk through this world

Suicidal, every day looking for a reason to live

Gay, in a world that judges you as less than

Filthy Rich, figuring out that money doesn’t buy peace

Disabled, having to figure out how to get the most basic tasks done with dignity

Republican, wanting only to protect the ways of life you hold dear

Anxious, terrified of the world around you to the point of losing breathe

Dirt Poor, looking out at those who have enough, wondering what on earth you did wrong

Democrat, because nothing good has ever trickled down into your life from big government

Christian, struggling to reconcile a religion that has huge gaps in logic

Manic, knowing the thoughts in your brain can’t be trusted

In Recovery, navigating a world of landmines and temptations

My God

This is so sad

What are we going to do about peace

If we don’t truly care about each other

If we won’t consider

Another’s view
Or care to learn
Its origin
 
Truly when
Did we get
So caught up
In ourselves

And what

Are we going
To do about it

I Want To Know

I want to know
How this life
Is hurting you

I want to know

Your strategies
For getting through
Tough days

I want to know
How you cope
With knowing
That many
Of your dreams
Won’t come true
 
I want to know
The hard stuff
The true stuff

I want to know

What is breaking your heart
And shaping your soul

I want to know

The good things too

The things that come easy
The things you are eager
To share

But not more

Then I want to know
What shame you carry
And the story of
Your scars

I want to know
Too much
It’s true

I really

Just want
To know you

Cry

There are days
That I face
This wild world
With courage

Days I walk tall
Though holding
The full weight
Of my pain

Days I am amazed
By all
That I am

And there are also
Many
Days like
Today

When I just need
To sit here
And cry

What I Mean

The return
Of a certain
Intensity of tone

The recognition

Of behaviors
Once subdued
With medicine

The every so often

Letting myself wonder
What my life
Would have been like
Without this

Knowing exactly

The steps I could take
To have that life

The acknowledgement

That a brain once broken
Is forever fragile
Always in need of
Protection

This is

What I mean
When I say
Mental illness is
Never over
Never easy

This is

What people
With brains
Never broken
Just don’t
Understand

I Honor

Today
I honor

The damage done

The dreams left behind

How much

It all
Still hurts

I do not wait

For validation
From those
Who have decided
That my pain is over

I only smile

At their presumption
That pain like this ends

Today

I honor me

I honor my pain

I honor my losses
I honor my sacrifice

I honor my survival

I honor my efforts

To rebuild this life
From the rubble

I honor my spirit

Which though broken
Still remembers
How to soar

Whispers

I will not fear

The changing seasons

My changing body
The changing of my mind

I will listen

When my life whispers

It’s time

For something
Different

And smile

At life’s invitation
To become
Something new

Voice

I’m sorry
Someone told you
That you didn’t
Have a voice

Convinced you

That your thoughts
Didn’t matter

Encouraged you

To be quiet
And watch others
Speak their minds

I’m sorry

No one told you
That your ideas
Could change the world

That your thoughts

Are so much brilliance

That your ideas
Shine like gold

I’m sorry for

What someone
And no one
Told you

They were wrong

Your presence matters

Your voice is needed

And it would be

Such an honor
To hear it

Sounds

There are days
I sense
An unsettling
Within me

Times I listen

And hear weeping
Deep inside

And if someday

You should hear
These same sounds
Within you

Know it’s only

The sound of
Your soul’s tears
Crying

Only the sound

Of the hurt
You’ve endured

Only the sound

Of a soul
Growing strong

Only the sound

Of a lived life
Making
Sense
Of the world
That’s around
And within her

Sounds of courage

Not to be ashamed of
Or feared

For these are

The sounds
Of sacred roads traveled
And brave journeys survived