Shifting Tides (September 15, 2019)

Many times

Have found myself

Standing on the platform

Waiting for the subway.

Pacing waiting area

Several trains past

Due to crowding.

Trigger for 

Anxiety/panic attacks

As the result

Of bullying and abuse..

Hugging station wall

Like a safety net

From the track's edge.

Scared

Suicidal thoughts

Will win.

Only needs

One time

To be fatal.

Knowing

Not only person

Experiencing this. 

Those

Who "survive"

Their mangled bodies

Leave witnesses traumatized. 

Reading online article

Two local transit systems

Dealing with suicides

A 180° change

Previous policy of silence.

Whenever

Someone attempts suicide

Whether or not

Successful.

Tightrope act

Informing passengers

And preventing copycats

For reason of delay.

Society's stigmas

Towards mental illness

Slowly peels away.

Human cost

No longer ignored.

Annual rising attempts

Successful suicides

And workdays lost

By transit employees

And others.

Solutions

Monetary intensive

Various government levels

Crying poor.

Saving short term pennies

For long term dollars

As the toll mounts.

Either way

It must be paid.

Therisa © 2019 

Author’s note: The article that sparked this poem: https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/subway-suicide-prevention-ttc?webview=true&appname=news-android-app&udid=7f43206c-fe21-42fe-b496-86de9a29fa17&adobe_mc=TS%3D1568497711%7CMCAID%3D5D5AA6ABDE3045D7-28F2582C80E9BEF5

9/11: Haiku (September 11, 2019)

Through the dawn's darkness

The healing light blesses everyone

In its rays of love.

Therisa © 2019

Author's notes: I don't normally write Haiku poetry, but this one wrote itself, in about 10 minutes. I had originally shared this, with Lona, a fellow traveller, on the journey of self-discovery. To me, she is everything that President Trump, isn't; honour, dignity and respect.

World Leader Pretend (September 5, 2019)

Rock star

Working crowds

Inciting rabid chanting fans.

As if

Lyrics to hit songs

On Billboard’s Top 40

With a bullet.

Divisive lightning rod

Drawing destructive energy

With every word/gesture.

Opposition attacked

With inflammatory 

"Red menace."

Rule of law

Suggested guideline

Ignore if conflicting.

Cruel parody

Of unifying voice

Facing economic

And political unrest.

Planetary lungs

Blackened remains

As burning beds

Light the night sky.

While

Rivers run red.

Therisa © 2019

Author's note: When I started writing this poem, about 4 months ago, American President Donald Trump, was the focus for this. In the time since, Brazil, Great Britain, Hungary and Israel have come to occupy my attention for this dubious title. The poem's title is a reference to the song, World Leader Pretend on the 1988 release cd, Green, by R.E.M.

Leeches (September 7, 2019)

We've all met them

People who exist

One type or another

As vampires.

Feasting on

Trusting naive people

Like con artists

They are.

Opening our heart

Mistaken belief

We're helping.

Believing sugary words

Despite evidence

Otherwise.

Sinking ever deeper

Web of lies

Like entrapped flies.

None escape

Without scarring.

Lucky ones

Break their chains

And walk away.

Stronger

Healthier

After healing.

Therisa © 2019

Reflections On The 80th Anniversary (September 7, 2019)

Many

Second World War

Is ancient history.

For myself

It's personal.

Dad - 3 years old

Nazi Germany invaded Poland

(September 1, 1939.)

Living 5

Of next 6 years

The Nederlands - Nazi occupation.

Little is spoken

About those years

Or the Hunger Winter

(December 1944-March 1945).

Hunger Winter's death toll

Ranges from 18,000 (low)

To 22,000 (high)

Mostly older men.

Family members

Old enough to remember

Since died. 

Silent tears

Stream down my face.

Zeitgeist swings back

To fascist populism

Once again.

Xenophobia homophobia

And transphobia 

Positively viewed.

Preying on

Public's fears

And ignorance.

As a transwoman

Having tasted

Its destructive taint.

Wondering

Shall we need

Another global war?

Before taming

These unleashed monsters

That troll society.

Only containing

Never eradicating

Humanity's darkest fears.

Shuddering

At the implicit costs

For our failure

To grow.

Therisa © 2019

September Storms (September 3, 2019)

You don't understand

Why I'm so political

In expressing myself.

Simple answer.

Am fighting

For my human rights

And personal survival.

Western society has

Systematically discriminated

On religious/moral grounds.

Regardless

What you think

Of my personal entitlement.

Discrimination - on a daily basis

Very real fact of life.

Having been threatened

Verbally physically

And emotionally

With violence.

Recently this summer

Verbal threats

Of physical violence.

Walking to

Local supermarket

For groceries.

Within Canada's

Medical community

Transphobia is

Alive and kicking.

How they treat us

As patients

(Or don't treat us.)

LGBTQ+ only clinics 

Been created

In some Canadian cities

Like Toronto.

Else educating doctors

On medications

Needed for transitioning.

Having been poisoned

By a potassium overdose

From my diabetic

And HRT medication.

Threatening

Long term health

Of my kidneys.

Before you think

I'm exaggerating things

Only look southwards

To the US.

Rapid deterioration

Of trans' protections/rights

At the state/federal level.

Question of time

Before this hate

Takes Canadian root.

Remember

No one thought

Hitler would gain

Outright control

Of Weimar Germany

In 1933.

Therisa © 2019