The sharp pain wind of the world prevails,
and there’s a seed of sadness growing in me.
The once orange leaves transform into shriveled, colorless leaves
that try to kiss the trembling trees.
They are spreading seeds of hate and excuses to justify
all the harm they cause, and they flee
from accountability, responsibility
for what they’ve done. They never lose.
Listen to the experiences, the traumas
of others before you plant self-preserving seeds.
Look into yourself: your implicit, explicit bias
rooted inside. Before you speak.
All those selfish seeds grow into something deadly
that feeds on the marginalized.
Hidden behind square secret screens, screaming, seeing
only what they want to see.
Endless discrimination and discussion in favor of hate
lives in the dry soil.
But we grow our plants of strength that won’t be silenced,
We won’t close
up.
We’ll grow and grow higher and stronger in this winter wind.