America is as polarized as ever. Either you hate Trump and his administration, or you support their decisions. The gray area where people could support their party and still disagree with some of its decisions is fading away. We are moving closer to the collapse of America.

It doesn’t matter which party you align with. It’s clear that at this point we have forgotten why our government and its parties exists: to ensure each citizen can prosper. Through discourse, we can expose the faults in each other’s logic leading to better policies that improve our quality of life. Yet, neither side can admit to their faults. Instead, politics has become a middle school classroom.

Teachers, experts in their subjects, are presenting the facts with an intent to inform not persuade. Yet, in order to reach their students, the general public, they must find a way to make the information more palatable. In this way, the facts lose their intent. We have comedians, that never intended or assumed to be experts, now passing on the information we should receive from experts. For them to inform they must insult, and the students latch on to the insult instead of the information. Turning the classroom into battleground of opinionated character insults with the “word of the day” being thrown around with little regard to its actual meaning or relatability to the discussion.

So how do we change the conversation from “You’re stupid” to “You’re wrong”? We first need to address the misconceptions that might equals right. The incessant, boisterous rantings of a mob don’t persuade others to join their cause. They acquiesce for the moment but remain vigilant for their vindication. If the harm sustained from those coerced into following the mob is great, they will become vindictive once the facts surface. This will cause a new mob, that will eventually lose sight of seeking justice and instead seek to punish.

At this point, we need those skilled in resolving conflict to emerge. Experts in compromise and reconciliation that realize that the competition is not between Democrats and Republicans but between prosperity and despair. We, not only as Americans, but as humans desiring a better life; A life of autonomy, happiness, and prosperity, must fight against the allure of winning if winning is just symbolic.

So I ask, do you want to thrive or do you just want to be heard?

It all started so inoccently. Holly would cuddle herself right next to me, let me stroke her, let me pick her up. It was strange; she normally bounded away whenever I aimed to lift her. She would burrow in her blanket, trying to make the perfect nest. She would hum and lick and nibble. But then her affections became aggressive. Instead of cuddling me, she was humping me, instead of burrowing in the blanket, she was marking it, instead of nibbling, she would bite. Like an enraged lover, she only ever bit when I was walking away.

Once she began kicking her litter out onto the floor, I knew she was in heat. The final straw being when she loped into my room, hopped onto my bed and promptly pissed all over it. You tell me if that doesn't smell like an aphrodisiac.

Alas, I am taken. I tried to tell her this. She doesn't understand. She feels like we were meant to be together. She pulled out her own fur to make a nest for my babies. She's ready, she keeps telling me as she runs figure eights around my feet. It is not my intention to hurt her feelings. I just feel like this is a spring fling. Bunny love. When winter returns she won't even remember my name.

Comedians die,

Nightly — 

Sometimes twice.

Their dreams squeezed,

Tightly — 

In a vice.

Who knows,

Even slightly — 

Stings they feel.

Though we ask

(impolitely)

“Is it really real?”

Comedy kills,

Nightly — 

With pokes & pecks.

Yet its victims beg,

Brightly — 

“Can I be next?”

© 2016 j.s.lamb

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gpSkSfX9Co&feature=youtu.be

People say black is dark, black is evil, black is negative, black is lifeless, black means death, but they forget that only in the darkness can the stars shine.

Black is bold, and it has a touch of elegance mixed with attitude. Unlike other colours black is true, loyal, it can’t have any shades, black means black. Black has its own essence of beauty, beauty burned with pride and mystery. You can’t see the secrets the black sheets fold behind, it’s mysterious, adventurous. Yet you can trust black, it isn’t see-through, it doesn’t reveal what it hides inside. Black has a sense of elegance folded with diplomacy inside its darkness. Black remains black, it doesn’t change so easily. It’s affirm, safe, secure, its black. Black would mix with other colours, all colours, but never lose its blackness, never lose itself.

On the other hand, white, or any other colour for instance, lose themselves so easily, submit themselves so easily. So nervous, so shy, so submissive, so disloyal. You can’t trust other colours, they have different versions, difference attitudes, different personalities, different shades, and you can’t know which one is original, which one is true. They reveal all secrets; you can’t hide anything behind them. And white, so dull, so lifeless, how easily can it be littered, stained, how easily can it be forgotten.

But black, black is black; mixed with its own tinge of pride, glamour, prestige, strength and overwhelming charm. Black is definite, clear and precise. It has its own way of being itself, of being bold and confident and of standing out and of making others stand out. It’s selfless, absorbs everything, everyone, embraces them and takes them to eternity. Black is never-ending, it’s infinite and it’s open to all, open for all. Black is cool and it has its own style of proving its presence. Black has seen suffering, it knows, it understands. Black has been burned, black has been hurt, and so it’s black and it lasts forever hiding it pain and wounds.

It is only black which remains with us even after death. And this world of ours needs more black.

#BeBlack

***

Illness like this

is no one-day affair.

It lingers—

oh, it lingers.

So, please—

do not forget us.

Do not forget your compassion.

Let it endure as we endure.

Let it stand the test of time.

***

Some thoughts on the #BellLetsTalk initiative.

#bellletstalk

#mentalhealth

#freeverse

#poetry