“Equator”

Blog

The problem isn’t you and it isn’t me.

The struggle isn’t new and not this moment in time.

It’s about equalizers,               equivalencies.             commonality,

not coincidence.

Paying fault does little like expectation to overcome.

It has permeated,                   saturated,

and denied all borders.

It is greed,                   need,               urgency,

undeniable.                 invisible,                      present,           stench,

and impossible to trace.

they need it more than it needs them.

The solution isn’t them,

it’s me,                        it’s you.

It’s not easy,                and it’s not new.

It’s courage,                it’s fed-up.

Throwing money at it is false hope,

with about as little substance as your thoughts and prayers.

It isn’t found under folded napkins on linen tablecloths

with platters of Kobe Beef and Rumaki.

Or shocked responses to news videos

with the numbers of victims for the year.

It doesn’t just happen there,

it’s happening here.

We are talking about our parents,

our siblings,                 our children.

The ones we shared blood with on their good days

but denied entry to when they weren’t themselves…

when they were stoned,                     tweaking,                    strung out,

overdosing,                 and dying.

It takes everything:

the keepsakes,                        the treasures,              the memories.

It leaves spent candles,           soiled clothing,           bent spoons,               needles,

and the shell of a loved one.

The equator is not just an invisible line around a globe,

it is their god that they hope to be judged by,

the devil they fear that has them,

the chemical that stopped their heart,

the drug that dried up their chances,

it’s the bullet that tore through their hope.

In all this,

they are equal,            they are at their equator.

In all this,                 

so am I,                       so are you.