how do we live
there must be so much pain
in the world from people not
being able to spend enough time
on what’s personally meaningful
to them, to feel forced into doing
anything just to survive and get by…
this undermines any sense of
personal freedom…
if you can’t think about the things
you want to think about,
if you’re stuck swallowing down
true emotion because the expression
of those feelings will only result
in life getting harder for you,
if your personal boundaries
are ridiculed and questioned,
if your interests are disregarded
if your values and beliefs are
met with hostility or written off
as unimportant or impractical —
that’s not living
that’s running
that’s hiding
in many ways that’s what it’s like
being already dead…
but what are we to do?
how do we escape death in life?
how do we choose to be ourselves
regardless of the ramifications…
how do we ignore the punishments
imposed for the mere exertion
of our own autonomy…
how do we live a decent, fulfilling
life, without feeling scared
that someone will hunt you down
and eviscerate you will their blades
of shame, getting you to feel endless
guilt over it, over being you,
over not abiding by the status quo
