The World Is Broken And So Am I

A poem(?) written during a case of insomnia.

The World Is Broken And So Am I

. . .

The world is broken and so am I.

Waking up, I stumble from the bed –

feet cracking, burning, aching

for no apparent reason,

While others’ feet are numb from

marching in protest, standing firm

in conviction, unwavering in form.

 

The world is broken and so am I.

I put on my shoes and my foot goes through

while others wear out their boots

walking the beat on the thin blue line

protecting those who would protest them

doing their duty to protect and serve

despite the hate and vitriol in the media.

 

The world is broken and so am I.

I sneeze and spit out chunks of tooth and blood

while others struggle to breathe, to live

to convince us that their lives matter

and should not end in a parked car or dark street

broadcast live for the world to see

the subject of a viral stream.

 

The world is broken and so am I.

I stare into the abyss of hate online

and it gazes back at me, transforming me

into a facsimile of itself, exchanging love

and trust and acceptance with hate

and paranoia and intolerance. Do unto

others before they do unto you.

 

The world is broken and so am I.

Awakened in the early morning hours

by a nightmare of my best friend’s death –

a LEO with a mixed race family – I know

he fine but others walk a nightmare they

will never wake from and would never wish

upon their worst enemy. Well, most won’t.

 

The world is broken and so am I.

At 1:30 in the morning my media is silent,

the world asleep, and I find Amanda Palmer reading

Goodnight Moon. “The world is scary but it will get better;

we have each other and ‘Goodnight Moon.’

Goodnight. Goodnight. Goodnight.

No, you hang up. No, you hang up.”

 

The world is broken and so am I,

yet somehow these words have brought me hope

and I tweet my thanks to this artist who

doesn’t know me from Adam. “Goodnight Jay”

she says, and the tears I’ve held in all day

fall as I realize someone out there cares

in some small way.

 

The world is broken and so am I,

but tomorrow is another day –

another day to do things right,

to make a change in someone’s life,

to laugh and love and learn and grow,

to share a pain I do not know

and cannot understand.

 

The world is broken and so am I,

but what we are is not what we will be.

. . .

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Featured Image from Opinionated Veracity