On the road, moving forward.
Destination random small-town Euphoria.  
Calm and peaceful visuals.
Green grass and trees.
Hilltop views that would make mountain views jealous.  
Down the country roads.
Over some unnamed creeks.
Passing over rivers I never knew.
It's a strange, beautiful peace.
It's what my mind awards me when I sleep and dream.
Town festivals with strangers.
So far away yet so close to home.  
And toward the end of it all.
A calm rain sings.
A soothing song of nature awakens me.

Sadness and rage
Boil under my skin
A fear, a desperation
Festering within.

We will not go back.
How can we?
How did we even get here again
In the first place?

I'm so angry,
And scared and nervous
For my own body
For many loved ones lives.

That orange ******* man.
The weak minds of his following
So much hate within him.
So much evil lurking.

I can't sleep sometimes
When the stirring gets too vast
It sits deep down, down, down
Inside my belly.

Get your bans of my body.
Anxiety rings in my mind.
And I won't pretend to even begin to understand
How others feel because I get that my skin is white.

Too much to hold internally
My body begins to shake
My head begins to pound.
My blood begins to boil.

I feel like lighting **** on fire.
Deep breathing doesn't help.
I feel like screaming.
I've got to let this out.

Just then I start to hear a whisper
A reminder traveling on the
Rustling leaves.

T R A N S M U T E
this energy.

Move into a place of love.
Let the tears flow.
Let the brush stroke.
Let the earth heal.
Let the rage guide.
Let the anger speak.
Let the fear release.
Let the words out.
Let the drum beat.
Let the feet stomp.
Let the hips dance.
Let the hands give.
Let the heart hold.
Let the love grow.
Let it rise up.
From the depths of your altruistic soul.

We are not going back.
We will vote to win.
We will not back down.
We will stand our ground.
We will walk with strength.
We will be hand in hand.
We will cross that bridge.
We will see love resound.
We will lift one another up.
We will not let fear win.
We will not let hate live.
We will prevail again, and again, and again.

©KSS 9/29/2024

To write the poem,
The one that you'll be known for,
Even beyond the day you fade to Heaven.

It takes a lifetime,
So if I'm lucky,
I still have 86 years,
To make that poem happen.

The wind chimes clink a sweet melody, blown by the soft evening air.
The fire is dying in the hearth as we say our good nights.
Some head out to the porch to listen to the sounds of the night,
Though I and the others head off to bed.
A coyote howls out in the forest, maybe on the cliff I found walking earlier.
My bedside candle is lit as I open my book.
As I read I listen to the calls of the owl, asking “Who is still out there, on this starry, cold, night?”
I blow out the flame and shut my book just as I hear them coming in.
I turn my head on my pillow and slip off into silent slumber.
Wondering what the next dawn will bring.