glimmer day 110 ~ NaGloPoWriMo 4/21/2025

pancakes for breakfast

I felt her watching, ignoring 
us, glaring, judging, hating
our perceived sinfulness, 
determined not to serve us
as if serving us somehow
condemned their fragile faith
and threatened their entry into heaven
      I tried to ignore her
      we just wanted pancakes for breakfast
when I was sick
the ER desk clerk
asked, “who is SHE?”
SHE will need to wait outside
family only…but, she IS family
the doctor won’t see you 
if SHE is in the room 
      I try to ignore them
      I just wanted her with me when I was      
       sick
the whispers, snide side glances
accompany our travels, wherever 
we go…we second-guess safety
make mental notes of unsafe
people and places…they claim
we have an agenda, that we threaten
their families…but we are a family
         we try to ignore them
         we just want to live our lives
they voted for fools you know
the ones who enjoy dividing us
the ones who want to tell every
he and she how to live and who 
to be…the ones who want us to 
suffer and we wonder, how could 
people who say they love us, choose them
        we can’t ignore them anymore
        our lives depend on it
         
~kat

Today’s Glimmer…The Eight-Spotted Forester Moth. This one’s a beauty. Often mistaken for a butterfly because it travels during the day. Symbol of transformation, beauty, and the importance of embracing change.

Much love, peace, and glimmers of change to you!

~kat

NaGloPoWriMo 4/21/2025 Prompt:

Identity politics poetics
There’s lots about ourselves that we can’t (and wouldn’t want to) change. Some of those things put us at risk in a culture that, more and more (I’m looking at you, America), “others” all but the straight white male able-bodied experience. It’s critical that we document what that’s like to live with that reality. Maybe you experience harm from -isms or -phobias or maybe you experience privilege. Either way, write a poem related to how perceptions, assumptions or cultural “norms” impact you. / Recommended reading: “evening : girl” by Gabrielle Brant Freeman