I read another post on social media today.
Someone on the right (is it right anyway?)
finally found a voice for the
m
i
d
d
l
e
ground.

They said that all sides have pros and cons
a bold statement for them I’m sure.
“But what side stands with law
and order
and against murder?” I think.

It seems so simple
I’m sure
because they always
seem
so sure.

They are sure that
guns
aren’t the problem
in a preschool
or church
or a subway
or a grade school
or a business office
or a high school
or a music festival
or a college.

But he had a gun.

And that gun is
a problem.

“No, he should have…he shouldn’t have…”
They are always so sure.
Or they always seem so sure.

They have to turn off the news;
take a social media break
because it’s breaking their hearts?
Or breaking their ideology?

While the rest of us,
who love someone with
brown skin,
who have children in a school,
who have been broken for decades over this
realized the middle
might as well be as good as
the right.

(It’s certainly not right.)

I have so many thoughts.
So many feelings.
I haven’t turned off the breaking news,
because it’s so often breaking
down the front doors
of people who can’t turn that off.

But what I come back to time
and time again,
in my mind,
are the places that built me.
The ones who said Jesus is love.
The ones who told me I belonged.
The ones who were always
so sure they were on the right side.

I look for belonging there;
a safe place to land.
Like we all hope still exists
when we come back from the sea
and are thrilled to see the island
in the distance.

But I don’t know now.
I think I’d rather stay in the water
if the island is made of
your middle ground.

They were sure Jesus
voted for Republicans.
They are sure that remains true.
They are sure that their arguments
for and against whatever it is today
are welcoming to people.
They are sure that they are saving the world.
They are sure they are on the right side.

And now…

They
finally speak for the
m
i
d
d
l
e
ground.

And I’m sure it took courage.
I’m sure it feels bold.
But I’m also sure that

the time has long passed.

It shouldn’t have taken until
the white man’s blood ran cold.