Lyrical Logic

I told myself when I started this that it wouldn’t get political. But, I have to say, the news of a presidential candidate being found guilty on 34 felony counts, it comes with a lot of mixed emotions. By any republican standard, I’m a bleeding heart liberal. I stand for women’s rights and believe that love is love and science is real. I don’t think my religious beliefs should be enforced on everyone around me. I want reasonable gun safety and I want my tax dollars to go to public schools. Needless to say, I’ve never been a fan of the 45th President.

Part of me is obviously thrilled with the guilty verdict. Because it means that no one is above the law. But part of me realizes the gravity of the situation, and is sad and honestly a little terrified. We live in a world where we are so polarized that the threat of riots and possible violence is very real. I know that there are actual possibilities of riots and other violent acts, and threats to those involved. And that is what scares me the most.

I live in a part of the country where a lot of people don’t think the same way I do. I live in a part of the country where my governor and state attorney general do things that have nothing to do with the people of our state and that they really have no business doing anything about. I live in a part of the country where my bodily autonomy is under threat and the reality of me having to move to receive health care is real. So when I say I understand what this verdict could lead to, I mean it.

But, in the work that I do, the verdict also means something. It means that truly no one is above the law. And it shows me that a jury of your peers can truly see beyond the fact that someone is important or a different color or have different beliefs than they do. Which, in what I do, is really refreshing. I get that New York is more blue than where I live. And I’ve seen a jury of peers do the wrong thing and it’s been overturned on appeal. It is honestly just refreshing. That money and power didn’t matter when it came to determining if someone broke the law.

I guess it wasn’t really political. It was just my feelings. But part of my journey here, and in writing my poetry, is observing and reflecting on the world around me. So this has been an interesting time in history. And there are things that I’m sure will happen in the coming months, and in November, that will be a direct result of what happened on May 30, 2024. But, we are a democracy. We are a nation of people who get to elect our leaders. And it will be the people who have to really think about what this means for us. Which, sure, is a scary thought. But I want to believe there are more people who care about right and wrong in this world than a political party affiliation.