Compassion for Karens and Candaces
When someone tries really hard and is hurt soundly
It creates a void
Filled easily by grievance
It makes you want power
Regardless of its source
Contrarianism and sabotage
Make perfect sense
So does violence
Often by proxy
When someone decides to follow an ideology
It creates a rush
Supported by the enemy
It makes you want control
Regardless of its source
Ethics and dignity
Become expendable
So does love
But Karen and Candace
I need you to know you are loved
Right where you are
Maybe your grievance is long-forgotten
Just the idea remains
That they hurt you and
Would do it again
When you lash out at the system
And sometimes yourself
You do it lee-gally
LEGALLY
Within the law
You do it with a phone
To hurt
You do it with a podium
To hurt
You hurt and you do it to hurt
Because no one saved you
And you will make them pay
And
When you struggled with that problem
No one came to your aid
So you will make them pay
LEE-GALLY
It’s in your rights
What does being “good” get you?
What does doing the “right” thing get you?
Isn’t it better to have power
Than to be “right?”
All of our debates are philosophical
And difficult to prove with words
But the compassion I have for you,
Karen
And you, Candace
Is boundless
And inexpressable.
I don’t want you to be ostracized
Or demonized
I don’t want you to suffer
More than self-awareness requires
I want to treat you like I was
When my soul was wounded
And the people I hated
Helped me to stop
Hating myself.
