I am not your enemy,
I just really want to be;
‘Cause what you do to me
With your energy’s taking all my empathy
Away from me; I’m tired of sympathy,
Tired of living here quite so judgmentally,
Immobile— In shadows of monoliths—
Undermined by doubts & absolute certainty
Biding time on burning grounds, yearning
To grow like a tree in toxicity, processing life to be,
From recycled trash left on my roots,
Passed by bodies unknowing, uncaring,
Who really say more about themselves
In the garbage they leave about trees
Than any of us, who stand and bear fruit;
Truth in spite of spite, in love in spite of hate,
Even as lies and life threaten to cut us down.