Wishing for a dream
“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.”
Rosa Parks
A week feels like a lifetime now. The terns are getting ready to leave. You can always sense this with birds. They form flocks. The numbers grow in the one deemed to be the best now. But I wonder if this really gives advantage? Must you be a in a flock to succeed? Or will a few close allies do? I look at migration patterns with birds – and think this is why humans make their lives so difficult. It’s in our DNA. Why else would you fly 40,000 miles plus? Pole to Pole?
I’ve had a bird kinda week. I often ask for little signs to know I’m on the right road. What does an injured Gannet seeking help mean? Humanity is broken and you must help? Why me?
We can only judge others actions based on where we are now. I’m reminded of this all week as I watch the insults fly.
Yes, there are those brave souls who fly above the parapet. But not everyone can be expected to do this. And honestly, provoker doesn’t always go with representer. Often this comes with that dreaded ideal compromise. The one it’s so easy to look back and hate.
Regardless of who you are – you need to grow into vulnerability. Being open about your own demons. Chains. And many horrors. It’s so easy to throw the truth out when it’s the new majority. A new popular song.
We find it unpalatable that there was a time to pass. A time to emulate a paler tone. But you can only judge from all that has been fought. Unbelievable as this feels. Each success. Each move is still forward – no matter how imperfect they seem with time.
I know how much it takes. How unpopular. How lonely the road seems when you say the unpalatable. The plan weird. A whole country rejoices this week in the back to routine. Normal. I feel so sad. It was like waking for the morning of a funeral. As if 6 months possibility meant nothing. You’ve learnt nothing – and not just because you haven’t been in school.
But to fly solo has no concerns here. There is no gun at my back. The beatings in education may have been just as unpalatable once. But they were never meant to kill. Just bully and conform.
Even as you feel you’re still wishing for a dream. And you’re tired. We all know clearly now. It’s the difference between being a good human or not. No good person can say; “Blacks deserve what they get.” That took 57 years. But it’s big. And the world is watching. It didn’t always – it often looked away. The right flock now has a Black pride.
If you’ve not read Alice Walker’s poem Once – this is a really good week to.
Naoisé 30th August 2020