I Stand By You [POETRY AND RANT]

You don’t know it, but I stand beside you

I wish my cloak could extend to hide you

From those who would choose to do you harm

But I lack the power to disarm

Those who arm themselves with hate

But I dream that we can change a fate

That has you quaking, lost in fear

A torment you don’t deserve

And I hope you forgive my nerve

For, if you let me, I will stand at your side

Hold your hand, never try to hide

The truth of my admiration for you

Of all that you are and all that you do

Believe in yourself, try to believe in me

And build a better world than we see

~~~

I know this post is a little late to the party, but I struggle to find the right words. It is so hard to find words that no one will be offended by. And if I write a post long enough to express everything I am feeling, it will be a novel.

Black Lives Matter!

And, yes, all lives matter. The analogy explains the importance of this best is Jesus’ parable about the shepherd and his sheep. He left the many to rescue the one because the many were not in danger: the one was. 

I don’t claim to understand what black people go through. I am so white that I think I justify a classification of “pasty white” on surveys. I do, however, have some experience with people judging me based on preconceived ideas. Despite proving my abilities in both math and reading, I kept getting placed into the remedial classes in grade school based solely on my last name. My personal safety was threatened a couple of times in middle school by my association with an older brother who practiced offending people. But you can’t look at me and know about those stigmas.

We need to give people a chance to show us who they are before me make decisions about them. We need to be more like toddlers. I walked away from my daughter long enough to hand a form to the receptionist at the doctor’s office. I returned to find her happily playing with a new friend. She didn’t care that he was a boy. He didn’t care that she was half his age. And neither of them cared that they weren’t the same color. Until I came over. Then the little boy looked up at me to gage my reaction. I smiled at him. He smiled back, and they went back to playing. And my heart ached a little that such a sweet little boy already knew he had to be worried about people’s prejudices.

I grew up in a small town in a formerly Southern state, until they broke away in 1863. I didn’t get a lot of chances to interact with people who were different from myself. And when I did, I had the good fortune to meet people who gave me reason’s to admire them for our differences. I learned to notice that someone was funny, smart, kind, loving, or breathtakingly beautiful instead of judging them on qualities they have no control over or something someone else did.

Be kind. 

Show love… to everybody. 

Be your best self.

Stand up for what is right.

And have a fantastic Friday.