As I approach the edge
Of awareness
Danger flashes!
A veil of flame
You risk burning fingers here
Pain
Confusion
Shame
Guilt
Crushed by the weight of the past
Once invisible worlds that shimmer
Just out of focus
Beyond the veil
What draws me near?
Why do I risk burning?
I have not always felt the lie so clearly
But as I learn and explore my world
The shallowness of my existence has been plumbed
Found wanting
It doesn’t match the world that others see
To see their worlds
I must
Walk through the fiery veil
To connect
To love
To fit the pieces of their worlds and mine together
Now I pity those I was once like
Trapped in their small worlds
Blinded eyes
Plugged ears
Wrapped in cotton
They don’t know what they don’t know
But a part of me knew
A part of them knows
And mourns
For the world that waits for them
Beyond the veil
Thinking about how I, as a white person, have benefited from doing anti-racist work; a big thing is relieving the cognitive dissonance that comes from your perspective of the world being frequently in conflict with non-white people, especially distressing and confusing when its in conflict with friends and family
