So, there was this fly on the inside of my window this morning when I was driving to my doctor’s appointment.
It wasn’t intimidating me
and I didn’t feel unsafe…
I just wasn’t expecting us to be at the same place at the same time.
So anyway, this fly…
It was minding its own business, but to be honest I still did not want it in my car.
Or anywhere near me.
I didn’t want to look at it,
I didn’t want to see it,
and I most certainly did not want it to touch me.
It would’ve been much easier if I had just swatted it with an envelope or squished it with a tissue.
But, I wasn’t being threatened.
So, what’s the point?
I opened the window and before I knew it, it was over.
“Ok let’s talk this out
We can talk it through
This doesn’t need to be a big deal
Just because we’re in the same room
We both might have felt trapped and uncomfortable, but that’s not worth a life…
But let’s stop and think:
how do these feelings arise?
Is it because of the reputations we create and past stories that come alive?
So I’m punished
Is what you’re saying
…based on a past that’s not even mine…
A past I had no control over
So how can you draw such a harsh line?
I know nothing about you and you know nothing about me
We don’t look the same
no,
but I thank God for that,
you see
I never thought much of myself
You thought shit of me too
So after a while, they started teaching us
To hate people like you.
I’m angry because I’m sick of feeling like I did something wrong
I’m embarrassed because I’m literally just another person
I’m sad because this can’t still be true
It’s almost 2021, I thought these times had passed through.
So here we are, both in this space.
Shared or divided, this is no race
that any of us are winning”
