Alex Mostek, contributor

It is interesting…
To grieve when it is not for a person
           Something that is not in reality how you thought it was
           A place that is also a concept
           A dream 
Lofted for so long as something indomitable, something true
Something unquestionably free
	(For the people, by the people)

It is strange…
To know that something that has been called the strongest
           (Shoved down our throats from infancy)
Is now weak
To remember the words of a tyrant;
Spoken by an addled old man
           To know that they were a threat
           (And now also a promise)

It is scary…
To hold my breath knowing that this is only the start
To feel deep in my gut that this is also the end
To fear the coming days and months and years

It is horrifying…
To look back on history and understand
To see myself in the shoes of those who came before us
           (Watching the rise of a dictatorship)
To be shown in real time the cycle:
           It all returns
What has been will come again
The world has been crumbling around us as we waited;
As we hoped and begged for fate to assist us
To save us from the machinations of the few
           Through the actions and thoughts of the many.
The selfish have succeeded.
They have toppled the final wall,
And they now face the final stretch.

It is the last stand…
What will we do?
Will we rise up and fight the chaos that awaits us?
Or will we sit
Frozen
In shock
Watching

It is almost incomprehensible…
Nothing feels real
           (I want to bury my head in the sand)
If only I could convince myself that this is simply a nightmare
           But it is only a nightmare in metaphor
It feels as though the ground has fallen out from under my feet;
           But in reality nothing seems to have changed

It is Apocalypsis
The apocalypse
Not “the catastrophe that ends the world,”
But from the Greek “apokálypsis”:
           -a revelation
           -a drawing of the veil
A moment that showed me
           Unequivocally
What I was trying so hard to deny
The illusion is broken;
The worst-case scenario has begun.
Of course, the democracy was already crumbling
           (And would have fallen eventually regardless)
But now the curtain has been ripped away by force

It is revealed:
Those who close their eyes 
Those who ignore 
Those who deny
Those who pretend
They will learn
           Or they will be lost
There is nothing to do except push back

It is abhorrent…
Silence is unacceptable.
This country has been the supporter, the perpetrator;
           of violence
           of lies
           of hatred
           of destruction 
           of loss
           of death
           of genocide
For far too long.
           There is nothing to hold onto anymore.
The judges are corrupt,
Just the same as the politicians who put them there

There is nothing to lose,
For now we have been shown that everything is already lost.

I grieve for the broken promises:
The lost lives
The lost dreams
The lost people
           Scarred
           Used
           Left behind
           Ignored

I grieve for the sparkling lies:
The ideas and claims that laid the foundation
The blood spilt in the name of independence

I grieve for democracy and “freedom”:
A freedom that was tainted from day one
Africans brutalized and enslaved
           (As if their lives were only worth the work they could provide) 
Indigenous people displaced and murdered
           (as if their homeland was some resource to be claimed)
Women denied and abused
           (as if their existence was only for the purpose of creating more sons)
Children abandoned and exploited
           (as if their hearts aren’t the most deserving of protection and care)
Soldiers sacrificed for the whims of their superiors
           (as if their deaths were for salvation and not for land and money)

I grieve for the believers:
The immigrants who sought a better life
The activists who fought for it
The farmers
The workers
The scholars
The artists
The dreamers

I grieve for the dreams and hopes and desires
Demanded and then snuffed out

“A nation of immigrants” that has always hated immigrants.
“A place of religious freedom” that has only ever respected one religion.
“A place of equal opportunity” where the rich pay their way and the not-so-rich work endlessly for scraps.

It has never been what we thought it was
The veil has been lifted
           (The emperor never had any clothes)

We must do what we can:
Use our voices 
           To shout when others try to silence us
Organize ourselves 
           To force them to listen when they try to turn away

We The People have something to say
And we will not wait for you to want to hear us

Empathize or be left behind

Apokalipsis: an end as a new beginning