seeking sunshine, solace, sanctuary

a literary estuary only words can provide

in english class, other tempest-torn hearts and i sat side by side

yet were somehow separated by this great divide

you see, the current trends on which our identity depends

often takes the form of tsunami waves crashing down as hate

preventing any of us from feeling safe

and as the storm rages on

we're thrown to separate sides from these social ties

and we’re lost, and drowning in these tides

 

in times new roman, 12pt, double spaced

we all wrote our essays

we all wrote our essays about Atticus Fitch

the master of consistency, and how in quiet dignity

he brought peace and love to Maycomb, Alabama

a town so fixated on the black and whites

they failed to see the gold within each others souls

 

in times new roman, 12pt, double spaced

we all wrote our essays on what Harper Lee taught us

insiting her words would never go in vain

saying “because of this book, my life ash truly changed"

but as soon as our final draft was saved

we stepped back to our old ways

 

of choosing hate over love whenever push came to shove

throwing sticks and stones to break each other’s bones

thinking we could somehow build our own home

of love, of peace, of self-respect

on the wreck we make by tearing others down

 

in times new roman, 12pt, double spaced

one summer night i dreamed that the earth was finally given eyes

yet only thing she did was spend an eon gazing, sighing

with no admiration

just jealousy towards the celestial skies

 

being products of its birth

just like the earth

on summer nights we too

stare out into the infinite

our skewed perceptions of inadequacy

make us envy everything beautiful we can never be

 

however, we have nebulas in our eyes

and just like the night sky, we are vessels of

endlessly intricate galaxies

 

how dare we feel inferior

when every single atom in our bodies

from the iron in our blood

to the calcium in our bones

came from the heavens themselves

 

it will always be the moon that influences the sea

and our golden celestial soulds within us have the key

to let love and gravity calm the storm within any sea

 

in times new roman, 12pt, double spaced

we all wrote our essays on what Harper Lee taught us

all pledging in our conclusions to never fall into the delusion

that segregation, hatred, or jealousy was ever the way to be

find the Atticus inside every single one of us insisting

that you are equal, she is equal, he is equal, simply by breathing

all of us look to the constellations to give our lives meaning

just find the voice inside you whispering that

and start believing

 

tempest-torn hearts need we no longer be

when instead, our vessels can flow in unity

so calm the storm within your ocean

and let love and peace control its motion

then lift your sail, and come with me

to a world where “i” can finally become “we”