some respect please

for my body

not a woman’s place

to say

what happens

to her

very being

protests in the streets

angry women aren’t pretty

people promoting

violence against

science

some respect please

for whatever I decide

to do

inside

my

body

look around you

people flicking cigarettes out their windows

a plastic bag floating through the wind

a McDonalds wrapper that somehow ended up in my backyard

all those pictures you see online

about those sea turtles eating toxic stuff

rainforests being destroyed

there goes your natural habitat mister squirrel

our earth cries for air

it is being choked by

smog

smoke

chemicals

humans

I've heard the saying going around

there is no planet b

and they're right

where do you expect to go when this wonderful beautiful planet

is gone

you could go to mars I guess

but if you get homesick

you can't go back

what if we destroyed our world

before we even had the technology to go to mars

then what would we do

there goes the human race

we can't let this go on anymore

PLANT A TREE PEOPLE

is it really that hard

to throw away your starbucks cup in the recycling bin

is it really that hard

to have two vegetarian meals a week

is it really that hard

to be good to the earth

I mean like come on

you don't have to be an animal rights activist

you don't have to single-handedly clean up an entire beach

you don't have to switch to solar power

this is a really long poem

but I've said my piece

this is the state of our world today

we don't have any other options

think about it

Our world is broken

Never-ending wars and violence 

Capitals fall while the lucky and privileged flee

Cries of despair imploring: 

“Lord have mercy.”

Our world is sighing

Shaking ground devastating already fragile lives

Recovery not even close to complete before the earth cracks open again

Rising temps and raging fire leading one to believe 

We are actually melting

Our world is sick

Sick with disease that kills the body

Sick with disease that warps the mind

Altogether weakened by arguments and policy built by ego and ambition and privilege

Altogether weakened by the certitude of rightness with never a hint of nuance 

Our world is hurting.... yet it continues to breathe

Our world cries out... yet it continues to turn

Our world is tenacious

Voices speak

Bodies march

The call for humanity and compassion and equality refuse to be silent

They refuse to be silent

Our world is hopeful

Sacrifice becomes the language of caring for our neighbor

Humility becomes the catalyst for hearing our neighbor

We lean in and listen to the stories of the unknown and we see them, truly see them as we look them full in the face. 

Our world is beautiful

Complex and messy

Intricate and lovely

Changing and waiting with broken hearts and hopeful expectation

For better

Infected by superstition like cockroaches we multiply

We’re lost in the battle frozen by what we see

Like parasites we feed negative thoughts we breed

This world suffers in agony and no one here is free

We are alive in this moment until reality sets in

We are fed all the lies until it becomes the truth

But we know deep inside there’s something not right

We will rise to find out what it means to fight for our own lives

Until we do we must change our attitude on life

And love again and know wrong from right

To be the difference in a world that succumbed to peer pressure

We must remember what it means to be better

Contaminated by the hate until humanity is dead

Lost we are wandering in search of a vaccine

Diseased we are spreading engulfed into the flames

We are told not to think for ourselves and follow what’s mainstream

We are alive in this moment until reality sets in

We are fed all the lies until it becomes the truth

But we know deep inside there’s something not right

We will rise to find out what it means to fight for our own lives

Until we do we must change our attitude on life

And love again and know wrong from right

To be the difference in a world that succumbed to peer pressure

We must remember what it means to be better