Targeted
most days
my compassion
is outflanked by
my gratitude
for not being the target
this time
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I live in the world
where many are caught up
in target practice
it often seems the actual target
is irrelevant
as long as they have a target
something to direct
their control
their need to prove their superiority
so their fear of inadequacy
can be drowned out
by the noise of their gun fire
their shouting
about unrealistic native land claims
about gender definitions
loudly trumpeting scriptural
justifications
for their own fears
genocide seen as natural
ethnic cleansing
to maintain property rights
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I’m grateful
not to be the target
this time
dodging bullets is tiring
when you don’t know
who is firing or why
Does this sound familiar: a politico not getting enough votes starts a movement to have bathroom users prove their biological gender in order to protect women & children, or, a corporate vip with no medical background insists that covid masking is a conspiracy & not medically effective & is hurting their bottomline. Then there’s – people are lazy because they won’t work for minimum wages.
The book ‘You Are Not the Target’ by Laura Archera Huxley from decades ago is partially based on taking things overly personally, that they sometimes come from issues in the other person’s life – you know the sort of thinking that you are being shouted at in deflected anger. I get that, but, that doesn’t deflect the loudness of the shouting or the weapon the shouter is waving at you.
This piece reflects my gratitude for being white cismale in a culture where running while black can lead to a police chase, where being a female entitles any male to express sexual interest, where – well, you get the picture. But I also know how I appear isn’t protection against a rage-a-holic running me down in their car along with anyone else on a sidewalk, or being shot in a mall as part of someone’s need for the highest body count, ever.
I’m not paranoid! I figure my fears are realistic – I still mask up if I’m going to in transit, if I’m spending time in a room with more than two other people, shopping, though a few times going into Tim’s I have forgotten to slip on my mask before going in. Is there a government, big business conspiracy to stop reporting the covid #s? I don’t know, nor do I really care. If I’m a target for covid I’d rather be harder to hit.
TOpoet 