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.
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.