is it dark in here or is it just me?

Hello loves.

It's been a rough few weeks, hasn't it?

It's been almost a month 

since I last posted something here.

I was at a loss for words (still am).

But I'll share something I wrote

a few days ago,

along with some of the art

I've managed to make

over the past few weeks -

despite the craziness happening

all over the world.

(Much of it BECAUSE of the craziness)

I hope you've all been well

and getting the hugs you need these days.

My heart is sick

and has been for weeks now.

They say:

“don’t let yourself

get carried away

with all the hatred”

and so I try

to surround myself

with joy and peace

and do the things

that make my heart sing,

but then the wave comes

and carries me away again,

when i hear about another

ridiculous executive order

and the muslim ban

and Cheeto demanding

that women should dress like women

and the burning mosques

and the murder of 6 muslims in Canada

or the new laws taking place

in some US States

where a rapist now has the right

to sue his victim 

if she chooses to abort the foetus.

The one that was created in violence.

It is very difficult these days

NOT to care.

(and we should never not care.)

And with social media and TV

and radio and conversations

at the local coffee shop -

it is also very difficult to "tune out".

Oh, but it is SO important that we do so

now and then. For the sake of sanity.

They say:

“but it’s politics!

And it’s happening in the US,

not here in Canada!”

and I want to scream,

INJUSTICE ANYWHERE

IS A THREAT

TO JUSTICE EVERYWHERE.

The rants and the tweets and the protests

and the families being divided

by a ban that fell on US citizens

like a bomb.

And now, on the rest of the world.

There are those on social media who say:

“I want Facebook to be fun again

with pictures of dancing cats

and funny memes that have

nothing to do with politics”

and I shake my head

at the idea that so many

still choose ignorance.

As if the craziness won't happen

if you don’t know about it.

And yet - I understand the need

to detach.

I understand the need

to run away and hide.

But hiding is not the answer.

It never was.

I am doing what I can

to care for myself 

more than usual these days,

to save myself from living

with an angry heart

the way Donald does.

Hatred breeds hatred,

and if I can keep just a tiny spark

of love alive

during this fucked up chaotic time,

i’ve done well.

I’ve been wanting to hug trees

and take long walks on the beach

and hot baths

and read good books

and make art.

But even these things have been unusually difficult...

My mind goes back to the Holocaust

and Nazi Germany

and how quickly an educated, intelligent nation

crumbled to the ground

when they were taught to hate.

When they were taught to live in fear.

When they were taught to become indifferent

to another persons’ pain.

It is the beginning of the end

when one becomes indifferent.

And yet - there is hope.

There is hope in the protests

and the coming together

of so many people 

who are willing to see their similarities

instead of their differences.

There is hope in people

who have found their voices

during the most tumultuous times

and who are using those voices

to make the world a place of peace

rather than a world of hatred and war.

There is hope in those

who stand with others

who have had their voices

silenced

along the way.

There is hope in children.

There is hope in the blade of grass.

There is hope in poetry and in music.

There is hope in words.

There is hope in the stars

and the moon

and the grand possibilities that are

within reach

for those of us who dare

to touch the sky.