1. traumatizing
    guilt
    embarrassment
    fear
    loneliness
    pain

    traumatic experiences
    should garner
    this type of response

    how do i feel?
    how do i feel?

    bullets and gas
    welts
    burning smoke

    trauma
    steeped in negative energy
    but i feel none

    instead

    anger
    passion
    resolve

    i am emboldened 

    — 

    I’ve been having a difficult time expressing how I feel about my recent experiences.  I felt abnormal since I wasn’t having what I perceived to be natural human responses to being shot by pepper bullets or tear gassed by police, or to being engaged in battle with armed police officers. 

    There are moments during actions in which I do feel powerless, exposed, weak, and terrified. And then I remember what I am standing up against and who I am standing up with and all those feelings ebb away and are replaced.

    I also haven’t written a poem in at least three years. This feels right. 
     
    1. shaimonster posted this