father

my dad says he’s pro life

but god it’s like he’s trying to end it

with guns, with laws, with the language of hate

it’s impossible to comprehend it

he’s preparing for a war on “his people” that will never happen

and i am the enemy

because i can’t stand by him

my shrink says i’m bipolar

and my father thinks he’s right

but when i started medication

that honestly saved my life

he said i shouldn’t be on it

and that the church should be my light

my sister is a christian

and seeking antidepressants

and in a failure of modern medicine

needed our fathers permission

“pray” he said. “go to church more”

i am a woman

in fact half of people are

but 6 people

with minds like my father

are telling me what that means

are telling me what life is

are telling me what my body can do

are telling me people in other countries have it worse so be grateful

an unwanted pregnancy kills a woman and they are silent

50 more children shot and they are silent

a woman makes a choice to save her life and abort a fetus and she’s a criminal

the supreme court says they are “justices”

but what was just about that?

i’m really not asking for much here

just some continuity of theme

you see, i grew up in your church god

i heard your message of love

my father told me to pray to you

so fine. i’ll pray.

i’ll pray for a little peace. a little fairness. a little balance in the world.

it’s just, the people who are sharing your message

are the same reason i left your church

they’re tearing apart the world

racism, sexism, homophobia, classism-do i go on?

i think black eyed peas wrote a song about this

everyone hears and nobody listens

but you do, right?

so answer my prayer, god. please.

amen