Community - by Joanna Elizabeth

for Rosa Rose and the members of Benzo Warrior Community

We who sit on supermarket floors

who cry in drugstore bathrooms

who drive (when we do) with clammy hands

who ride bikes late into the night

who climb mountains each day

and struggle to descend them

 

We who are strong in ERs

and collapse outside ERS

who walk on beaches (when we’re lucky)

and in forests

and in malls

and on driveways

and in our homes for miles and miles

who peddle bikes in our beds

who live and forget lives in our beds

who burn in our beds

through miles of perilous thought

 

We’re the clever ones (we have to be)

the strong ones (we have no choice)

the ones who strive to rise above

and do so on the Sad Wings of Destiny

even when we fall

who hold hands across the Valley of Death

who transcend hell in groovy tones

 

The invisible ones (hidden in tears)

the ones who haven’t slept in years

who practice gratitude in darkness

who listen to rain sounds on loop

 

The ones who pray

in many languages

and in no language we can remember

Author: Joanna Elizabeth