Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Poetic Tryptich, by E. Lewy

Choice  of Words

“You’re miserable,” twice, by people who can’t
Respect the life I lead, quiet and productive and full
of pride that endures long after they’ve come and gone.

Pride that does not always mean a beaming smile,
But instead a real view of my identity--that I best be proud
In the face of their misunderstanding.

That I can be called a mama bear and an uncompromising activist
Disabled, queer, neuroqueer, with a family that spans the globe.
Those of us who stand tall while so many others wish to label us,

suffering, afflicted, miserable, crippled, lacking in empathy
childish, sexless, bound, trapped, inept.  I choose.
Strong, observant, resourceful, resilient, disabled.

In the Blood

Activism is in the blood
three generations deep, stretching through
the Civil Rights Movement
to the AIDS crisis

To gender as a spectrum and
neurology that is queer, holding
the knowledge of a greater good
we all reach for, for us all.

An understanding that love is
meeting everyone where they are,
caring for their wounds
and the wounds of those before us

Acknowledgment of the past,
that it cannot be escaped
and it cannot be improved upon
unless we witness.

Activism is committing to a better future,
one where more people are awake
to the consequences of actions
and knowledge of what love can do.

Microcosm

My community is quiet,
with a soft unity of purpose.
At the end of the day,.
coming home.

We share dreams and nightmares
with only a few words, or none at all.
Knowing silences, and support
coming across any distance.

The fight is day to day, little victories,
and judgment withheld.
The smaller unit
part of a greater whole.

No clamoring masses seeking unity,
but a family who has already found it.
Unhampered by time or space,
we are always willing and able to lend solidarity.

Fighting for each other
in all the places that we call home.
Our pride and love builds bridges
others try to tear down, but they never will.