Our Collective Tide

My body knows no difference 

to the headline on that article 

or the attacker on my doorstep 

I don't know if I can separate 

that laws being passed 

don't just slowly chip away at my rights, 

but shred them with sharp claws - 

As I read the bill it's like 

I feel the claws sink their insatiable teeth 

down the lining of my life force energy. 

As I sit in my living room with my fish bowl window, 

I feel like the lonesome fish in the tank too small 

for her fins to grow to her potential. 

The more news that floods my feed,

the more I sink deeper into my own terror. 

The more I try not to avoid what's happening outside, 

the more I crumble on the inside. 

It took everything in me to feel brave enough 

to go to that capital building up on the hill -

the one that has rows and rows of cherry blossoms 

blooming this time of year - 

such delicate and whimsical trees 

representing such a terrible time 

of keeping thousands of Japanese immigrants 

in concentration camps 

just a few short decades ago. 

Trees planted as an apology. 

As a peace offering to what happened that was so dark. 

But what's darker 

than the dirt those trees are planted from? 

We trek our way up the hill, 

Surrounded by laughter, 

Of children, 

Of dogs adorned in sarcastic signs

I knew my like minded people would be there, 

What I didn't expect were the countless signs of

"Republicans against trump"

Of 

"Mormons against fascists" 

I didn't expect the hope 

The connection 

I didn't expect to be 

Surrounded by a sea of people 

Who know the ocean is only as beautiful as 

The countless species 

Existing freely 

That make it so awe inspiring

My body remembering that terror cannot survive

In the vastness of our collective tide.