—
It’s been a week
since the electorate chose
a man to lead
the Divided States of America
Who ran on a platform of hate
You wonder why I rage
You wonder why
my Facebook feed
looks like
a train wreck
A jumble of horrible
Images and stories
Of hate crimes
Of petitions
Of articles about
White supremacy
You want me to play nice
And get back to
Posting videos
Of cute animal couples
Inspiring stories about
My adopted children
And sometimes
My own writing
But I will not play nice
I Rage
Because I saw this coming
Because I knew what was at stake.
I Rage
Because a quarter of America
And more than half of my white sisters
– I’m not sure I even want to call you sisters right now –
Didn’t heed my warnings.
I Rage
Because the man the electorate
Chose to lead
The Divided States of America
Just appointed
A White Supremacist
to direct strategy.
And I have a problem
– a really big problem –
With that.
I Rage
Because when I send my kids to school
Every day
I am on Alert and Afraid.
They, thankfully, are not.
I Rage
So they don’t have to.
I Rage
Because I am afraid now
to take my dark-skinned children to
Oh so barely blue New Hampshire
To the town I grew up in
to see their grandmother.
Because you told me
What you think of them.
Or perhaps how much you
Don’t think of them.
(I was cautious before,
but not afraid.)
You say your vote doesn’t
Mean that you are racist.
But you looked
The other way.
And I don’t
forgive you
For that.
I Rage
Because my gay friends
Feel denied and disrespected.
There is an eerie silence in
Our gay-friendly community.
It feels like the whole town
Has been
Brought to its knees.
I Rage
Because twelve women
Have told us their stories
Of unwanted touching and
Advances
And of assault
By and from
The man who
the electorate
Chose to lead
The Divided States of America.
I Rage
Because when I explained
Quietly and nicely
I apparently wasn’t heard.
I Rage
Because the man
Who the electorate
Chose to lead
The Divided States of America
Is on record speaking about
Girls and women
As
Objects
To be groped, ogled
And tossed aside.
I Rage
Because I know
That I
A woman
am way more than that.
I Rage because
You. Will. Not
Look or think of
My children like that.
You will not give permission
For other boys and men
To do the same.
I Rage
Because there is
Radio silence from
The Tower in NY.
Or to be fair
just a muffled
Half-hearted
“stop it.”
If you will not meet
Fire with fire
And speak up against
The hate crimes sweeping
This nation
I will Rage.
I Rage
Because the man
Who the electorate
Chose to be
The Divided States of America
Has promised to
Deport 2 to 3 million
Undocumented residents
Who do the jobs that
No one else would do.
I Rage
Because lies have been spun
About these people
And they have been swallowed
Hook
Line
And
Sinker.
I Rage
Because
We don’t build
Walls
In
The United States of America.
I Rage
Because the team
Who is going to be responsible
For nuclear weapons
Did not show up
For work at the
White House yesterday.
Did. Not. Show. Up. For. Work.
I Rage
Because some of my friends
Are still paralyzed
So I must be vigilant
And fight
until they rise.
And trust me
They. Will. Rise.
I Rage
Because the fear would
Paralyze me
If I let it.
And I can’t let it.
I have to be informed
To know what we are up against
I have to be ready to speak.
I Rage
Because everything I care about
Has been threatened
Civil liberties
Justice for all
Freedom of the press
Women’s rights
The environment
Human Decency
Kindness
I Rage
And I Rage
And I Will Keep Raging
Against injustice
Against hate
Against violence
I Rage
We Rage
For Love.
—
—
Photo credit: Getty Images
Go take some time and read the Dhammapada and the Tao Te Ching. You are poisoning yourself, and others, with your rage.
It’s not helpful at all.
Wow! You lose an election and look how you behave…pathetic. When Mitt Romney lost to Barak Obama, did Republicans behave this way? NO. When John McCain lost to Barak Obama did Republicans behave like this? NO! But, just look at you people. God awful. Where was your rage when Hillary Clinton called 30 million of her fellow Americans “deplorables?” Only because we dared to disagree with her and the “progressive” left. Only because we deign to think for ourselves. We have endured the bullying of the “progressive” left for decades. On November 8th, 2016 Americans stood up fr themselves and… Read more »
Wow, completely insane, HYSTERICAL SJW nonsense…the very same variety that LOST US the election. This piece REEKS of self-righteous, self-ingratiating BS “my adopted children” oh *clap clap clap* good for you and your no doubt shelter dog. The author even recently laments on her FB page about being TERRIFIED to walk by two “WHITE MEN” simply standing by a truck. What racist insanity…keep this crap up and only trans women will be left for the Dems, all others ostracized by dumb shit like this.
Beautiful poem and a perfect expression of the way I feel. And so many others. Thank you for this.
You rage by burning things down and inciting riots, violence and looting. Explain to me how your “Love” Trumps Hate – clearly, the disconnect must be mine
No. That isn’t what the author is suggesting. And you are missing the point, based on past comments of yours…on purpose.
So it is not her and her SJW pandering lib- leaning burning things? Sounds like they must be enemies of Democracy then, i.e. Terrorists against the State and the foundation’s of the Electoral process. Luckily, Obama set up a host of FEMA camps ? mighty white of him.
Btw. One point on one subject you rose. The left wants higher wages. It supports illegals as having jobs no one wants. Yet who the hell l did these jobs before they came to take them for lower wages. I’ll tell you one who did. My father. But you don’t care about him. So therefore lots of Americans will actually do those jobs If the wages rise to meet them. Then we both get what we want. Americans, not illegals doing those jobs, AND surprise surprise, getting a wage probably much higher than 15 an hour. But you don’t see… Read more »
Does this really make sense to you? Did you really Think about this, before you typed it? Did you read it back, Mark? Surely you would have deleted this nonsense had you re-read what you typed. This is the worst ‘defense’ of anti- ‘illegals’ I’ve ever read. ‘Illegal’ immigrants have been the backbone of this economy for countless decades. Don’t blame those looking for a better life in the U.S., blame all the farmers and others who hire them, if you must place blame.
[Brian Crandall: ‘Illegal’ immigrants have been the backbone of this economy for countless decades.] Sorry, but illegal immigrants – said to be now about 2 to 3 million people – are not and never have been the backbone of the US-economy. Illegal immigrants do not have the right to be within US-territory – it is up to authorities to arrest and deport them. It’s not the job of a farmer to check the citizenship/visa status of applicants. An even better solution is about preventing illegals to enter USA. Legal immigrants are not known to climb over fences or walls, they… Read more »
I don’t know why these liberals can’t figure this out. Try being an illegal in another country and see where it gets ya?
Now you know how perhaps half the country felt being steamrolled by hateful speech directed at them by the supporters of progressivism. Look at what close to 20 years of progressive thought has got us. A nation completely divided. Schools where unprecedented amounts of money were tossed into, and yet the results are worse than we started with. Drugs run rampant, along with gangs because you don’t like stop and frisk. Illegals allowed to flood our borders, but you cared more for those looking for a better life. But they couldn’t even do it the right way, because you supported… Read more »
You’re crying wolf.
http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/11/16/you-are-still-crying-wolf/
Excellent cite. But it will be ignored. Again. They hear what they want to hear, and worse act as if what they heard what they wanted to hear was the Truth. Note the capital T. And nice people like the author compounds and spread the lies of it all. Because she is nice. Maybe.
Dizzy. At the link, the writer turned off comments because he knew, oh, he knew, that his bullshit would not stand up to scrutiny and would immediately be exposed for the absolute nonsense it is. … But I think you knew that.
I guess that’s why my comments here are routinely deleted despite never violating any terms of service…
You haven’t even touched any of the ideas, just remarked on comments being turned off
Bull nonsense – there are open threads on that blog where the topic is being discussed.