time & place in poetry

This is the time.
And this is the place.

We’re better than blessed. We’re real.
We’re better than miracles, we’re factual.
We’re better than glamorous, we are actual.
But we retreated into corners of niches
& fetish & fancy,
hoping it would empower us
and now here we stand
at history’s edge
& we are found wanting.
But this is the time
and the place.

In MY day we all stared at the SAME screen
to ignore each other
instead of each having our own.
It was BETTER, I say,
unsure if that’s true.
But this is the time
and the place.

Do not disregard your ability to be mythic.
To affect real change
To do the nearly-impossible
They’ve stolen it from you
so they can keep up their profitable charade.
Take it back.
This is the time and place.

The secret is that we are all,
regardless of gender sexuality or any other false dichotomy,
terrible wonderful secrets.
This is our time
This is our place

Pessimists regard the future as sequel as sequels are terrible.
Optimists regard the past as prequel as prequels are terrible.
As a realist myself, I just don’t want a reboot.
The first time around was inconsistent enough as it is.
Trying again this time just as a marketing gimmick.
It will only be more problematic.
Let’s just get this time right.
Let’s get this place right.

They knew we wouldn’t kill each other
for land at their profit forever,
eventually we’d walk away.
Play soccer in the no-man’s land together
So they made up gods to scare us into it.
Now is the time to let go of those gods
and play in the wasteland
together.
This is what this is.

Look, a generation kicked this upheaval
down the road 40 years
to have kids
Watts
Chicago
Stonewall
Kent State
but we have to do this now. This is the time.
This is the place.

This is the time
and the place

This is our time
this is our place
together.

Last updated December 28, 2014