world on fire

the world is ablaze
it always has been hasn’t it
the world is on fire and
there’s a lot i don’t know

like i don’t know much about polarity
but i wonder when we lost sight of it
like writing this poem while taking a Zoom meeting
heart breaking on virtual paper
while nodding and smiling to muted boxes on a screen

like the way you said i would follow you
if you led me
i would follow
that’s true

because the trust goes deeper than the six weeks i've known you
because i’m in love with your wild
because i need to be free and you need to have purpose
the natural, essential polarity at work

like the way smoke fills my lungs
and the sky is so beautiful
mountains on fire
that would paint a picture to win prizes
like really prestigious ones
like ones you would brag to the world about on twitter

the world is burning

and there’s a lot i don’t know.
like i don’t know the girl whose spent her whole life hiding
who doesn’t feel safe in her reality

and i’m not sure when we all stopped looking at one another and actually seeing.
when other human beings became target practice for our frustration, fear, and anger
i don’t know when we figured the best thing to do is get louder to make our point
when we decided to choose a new enemy every day to put out our fires
maybe to save us from our not knowing

and the world is on fire
and there’s a lot i don’t know
like the way i’m finally learning to soothe myself but i’m not sure how to soothe the whole world
maybe that’s it
learning to first soothe ourselves
so we can soothe one another

united in our not knowing-ness

and right now it feels like everything will be okay once i see your face
and there’s a lot i don’t know
so i know that’s not true
but i’ll cling to it anyhow