Interior Weather.
It arrives just like weather.
The danger is not only what may happen.
It’s what is already happening inside people.
A steady rehearsal of disappearance.
People move differently now.
Not running.
Not screaming.
Quieter than that.
A mother no longer lets her child answer the door.
A grocery clerk flinches when a uniform enters the store.
A woman double-locks a door even though she has never been harmed.
Hands stay closer to pockets.
Eyes lift, then look away.
Doors close more softly and more often.
It isn’t panic.
It’s contraction.
A narrowing of the inner field.
Something in the body says:
Be smaller.
Be less visible.
Be harder to find.
No one announces it,
but, it arrives just like weather.
And we talk about enemies more than we used to.
—L.A.M.
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—Lee Anne
How tragic. When we have SOOO much inside, we are in a situation where our leaders want us to contract and disappear and become numb to our hearts and to love.
Francie, what I cannot write about at length, because it fuels the fire, is that I never believed we’d live in a police state. We will surmount this malignancy, but some damage will remain. We are, or used to be, a nation of loving, generous people. I know we still are. I do not judge anyone for feeling afraid, for hiding out, for staying quieter than they used to, especially if they live in a city. We keep the light on for those who cannot. We send love, 'be' love in any way we can. That’s all we can do. ~ Thank you. Love you!
P.S. You know people are lighting candles in their windows as a gentle way of saying, "We will prevail." If you haven't already done so, light a candle at night. 🕯💜