Terror.

Terror is the fear in my heart, the goosebumbs on my skin,

The voice in my head telling me that even if I’m right or wrong I am in danger.

Terror is the crystals in my veins that will shatter with the drop of a pin, the drop of a bomb,

Clouds of black blue and yellow, the sidewalk beneath my feet vanishing into pink mist,

Hearts that no longer beat.

Terror is knowing Boston is my home, but what is a home if I can’t find the streets?

Terror is a weapon easily disguised by blood, dirt, and tears but the real destruction is not how they hate, it is how we react.

What if this time terror didn’t win.

This is for the builder.

This is for the man that knows no blame,

This is for the woman who loves without knowing

This is for the news caster that reports the facts, not their color.

Terror is not what they use against us but what we use against ourselves.

Terror is when we cry and yell away our trust.

What if this time, we create

This is for the nurturer.

This is for the hands that will grasp each other rather than guns,

This is for the voice that moves with waves of change not blame,

This is for the eyes that see no color, sex, or divide, but a human being who feels the same terror as you and me.

Terror is the bird who saw a nirvana so perfect but far that it smashed into a window because it thought it would be faster than the door

We can reprimand all we want, but true power comes in healing,

I’m, not asking you not to be scared,

I’m asking for you remember we all are.

Terror is the fuzz on the television telling me that I have to shop my way to safety.

but what if this time we share our freedom instead.

This one is for the walker.

This is for the footsteps that will not follow mine, but walk beside instead,

This is for the note comparer, the dream sharer, and the dancer,

This is for the art that will move me farther than folded sidewalks.

It is time for us to heal,

Not strip away the heart of who we are,

Not fill our gaps with straight backs and open guns.

It is time for us to find the truth in empty shampoo bottles and removed shoes,

I will smile at you in an airport even if you don’t smile back,

They can take away the contents of my baggage,

But they will not take my trust.

Security will not heal our country, it will tear it.

Blue suits and shiny shoes block our doors and write our laws,

They wear the masks the rest of the world sees, and

Terror is only alive when we feed it.

I’m done talking about the who and the why like it’s a game,

This is our world and if we don’t play right we will all lose.