"Despair for the Future"

It begins with hope and change
It begins with history
It begins with optimism

But as it moves hope and change
Becomes hatred and stasis
What should be history
Becomes a repeat of the past
What is optimism
Becomes fear of the future

But surely that which is good and decent
Will triumph over the worst impulses of us all
Sadly, trust is misplaced
And we slip into the deep cesspool of negativity

Progress halted by fear of change
A religion based on love is used to inspire hate
People who should be caring for others
Reject those not like them

Privilege and power dominate over hope
Fear of change drives people to vote against themselves
Have we slipped so far that we choose hatred over hope?
Have we slipped so far that we reject the basis of our ideals?

They tell us not to be angry
They tell us that is will be ok
They tell us that we must accept what happened

They refuse to see our anger
They refuse to see our fear
They refuse to see who we are

How can we be one with people who deny who we are?
How can we be one with people who deny our value?
How can we be one with people who clearly hate us?

Yet we must struggle on and not give up
We must persevere in the struggle
We must not give into despair

Knock us down and we will rise stronger
Try and keep us down and we will rise twice as strong
Try and deny us and we will come roaring back

Someday we will
But for now we must come to grips with what has happened
For now we must grapple with the depth of hatred

I look to the future and I weep
I look to the future and also see hope
That is the strange dichotomy of what has happened
It is like a two-edged sword
Which we must swing to cut the oppressors

"Lament for Life"

They fall like rain
Like rain they fall
Bullets, tears, bodies, lives
Spent and used, wasted and discarded

Nice, Orlando, Istanbul, Bangladesh just to name a few
Police killing blacks, police being killed, people killing others
Anger abounding, the cup of anger runneth over

We scream at each other and point the finger at groups
We accuse each other of devaluing life and other people
We use differences to excuse anger, violence, and death

Yet, we are all the same
We are all made of the same stuff
We are made of the stuff that makes the stars
We are made of the stuff that makes the Earth
We are made of the stuff that makes each other

What hurts one, hurts all
What kills one, kills all
Cut us and do we not bleed?
Poison us and do we not die?
Wrong us and do we not seek revenge?

We are being poisoned by a diet of anger and hate
We are being inspired by purveyors of hatred
We look at that which is different and fear it
We see that which is not like us and devalue it

Are we different?
Of course.
Are we all the same?
No, and thank goodness.

It is in our diversity and differences
That our true values shows and shines

We need to lance the boil of hatred
We need to reject the chalice of indifference
We need to show that we love and care for each other

No matter who or what you are
You are loved
You are valued
You are needed
Without you the world is incomplete
Without you the world is missing a piece

Stop the anger, stop the hate
Show that you love each other
Show that each and every life is valuable
Show that everyone is needed

I do not know how many more tears I can cry
I do not know how many more times I can express condolences
I do not know how many more horrible events I can hear about and remain sane

With every incident, it feels like a piece of me dies
With every life that is snuffed out, I am made a little more hollow
With every person that is forced from this earth, I am lessened

With every incident, it feels like a piece of us dies
With every life that is snuffed out, we are made a little more hollow
With every person that is forced from this earth, we are lessened

Every time someone is killed, we are all lessened
Every time someone is taken from us, we suffer that loss
Every time someone destroys a life, we all lose a bit of our humanity.

All I need to know is, when will it all end?