Next Fight
How easy is it for countries who are friends
To become enemies and go to war?
Like Britain and Argentina in the 80s
Argentina bought British warships
Their crews trained here in 81
But in 82 they invaded the Falklands
We were at war and we won that war
But hundreds on both sides were killed
This is one example of conflict
It can and will happen again
Who will we fight next?

What do you do
when your mind is your greatest weapon
but your most destructive enemy?

Take the tear soaked dirt from around your knees
And mark your face to prepare for war
Because the battle for your life
is about to charge you like never before.

You will stand face to face with the darkest of demons
as they screech in your ears that you’re worth is zero
Your feelings are inadmissible and
No one loves you enough to be your hero.

These evil belligerents will be the effects of
the most damaging kind of rejection
the most destructive criticism of your reflection
the most vile act of a man’s unwanted *******

Yet your future is proof that
even with a trembling body and labored breath
even with a soul draped with trauma
you are more fierce than the call for death.

You will make it through every battle
You will end the raging war within
You will experience the sweetest kind of love
and you will rediscover an authentic grin.

Just because you made it through
doesn’t mean all fights are over
But, you will think back to this time
and know how to allow your strength to takeover.

You can do hard things.

if you were given a gun today
and told to fight for freedom
who would you shoot first

all weight
        and meaning
is not
to be found
in the substance itself

there are spaces
between words;
pauses
    and pregnancies
or an absence
        altogether
that contains more
than semantics ever could

the trouble is
finding a balance
that punctuates the message
appropriately;
otherwise
you just seem
disinterested

                  or

                              lost

sometimes i decide to be brave
but in doing so, i put on a set of armor that covers this delicate body
no one can hurt me this way
no sword can pierce my skin
no word can break my bones  
nothing at all will harm me

but . . .
what if . . .

one day i decided to be brave
and take off this metal illusion of safety
because there are times when bravery means being able to feel
even the pain
some days, it isn't holding yourself together, but shedding tears that takes the most courage
as i unfasten my breastplate and drop my shield
i think to myself
this is living:
not shielding yourself from feeling
this is healing
only by allowing yourself to break