The Turn of Tides

I get quieter and quieter as I age

Whereas I thought I would get louder and louder

Because I thought I would have more to say

And more courage to say it.

~~~

But just as throughout my life

Other voices are louder

I'm told time and again who I am

What I am, What I stand for

Even though they do not know me at all.

~~~

It is simply by what is visible I am judged

I am female, I am aging, I am white.

And somehow, I became an enemy overnight.

I am verbally assaulted daily by those in pain looking to lash.

~~~

No one knows my stories. No one knows my actions.

But I am told to be silent. No one cares to know me.

I am told I am evil because of ancestors before me.

Sins of the fathers, I suppose.

Only, I don't even know what those sins are lost in the past.

Were they guilty as they have been charged?

~~~

There has been no trial.

Just accusations made.

And then I am punished with harsh words.

Judged, belittled, slandered.

Sometimes I try to take a stand.

Offer the truths of me.

But they don't care. I am nothing to them.

I am an enemy by default.

~~~

It saddens me. I withdraw.

Social Media is a nasty claw.

How will we ever have unity?

If we cling to past wrongs and transfer them to the present,

Does corrections in the now not matter?

Is it change we desire? Or vengeance?

~~~

I can only be me.

I can only offer kindness.

I can only offer understanding.

I can only offer love.

I can only stand tall despite those who will bow me.

~~~

I am aging. I will perish in the coming years.

Until then I will survive the hurricane of torment.

And I will hope that when I go, that the hurricane will be spent.

And the legacy left behind will be ....

Love for all mankind.

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