This Wouldn't Happen In Israel

For the Present

Afflicting My Own Comfort

"Let them unfriend you," she said.
I did not want to hear it.

"You have to understand," she said,
"That choosing to silence yourself
To the people who won't listen to us,
Is choosing to waste the privilege that we don't have."

"Deciding you can't afford the energy
To keep arguing on our behalf,
is an act of entitlement."

"Walking away
And leaving the walls of their echo chamber
To grow thicker and stronger
Is the opposite of teaching them something."

I did not want to hear it.
I listened anyway.

Parent Suggested, Four Year Old Approved

"I have built an army of robots!"
"Oh! What are they doing?"
"They are attacking people!"
"Quick, go get your knights to defend the people!"
"Good idea!"

Welp.  Looks like we have a game plan for the day.

"We'll cross that bridge when we're ready to burn it."

"...you only want me to
know your hunger
you do not want
food"

-- scrap of Anonymous poem, featured in a Powerpoint

Other People's Poems

"The Guest House" by Rumi 

"The Invitation" by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

"The Journey" by Mary Oliver

"Litany for Survival" by Audre Lorde

"Nikki-Rosa" by Nikki Giovanni

"Ordinary Heartbreak" by David Levine

"Pain for a Daughter" by Anne Sexton

"since feeling is first" by e e cummings

"somewhere i have never travelled" by e e cummings

"The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver

"True Love" by Robert Penn Warren