Wednesday 18 September 2019

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 




Saturday 14 September 2019

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

Saturday 7 September 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

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