Poem: Support is Conditional

 

Support is Conditional

Whose tongue is knocking
against my teeth because
it’s not mine. Judgement
is a river pulling me under,
pulling me down to the rapids.
We give flowers, sugar, the fizz
of champagne but it doesn’t
matter what’s done in the past,
“Now” rips the life raft
apart, pieces of orange disappearing
until we all forget it was ever there.

***

So much drama in the Twitter writing community lately. I’ve been thinking about it a lot. We claim to be supportive, understanding, solid. We say we support emotional and mental illness or distress. We exclaim our inclusiveness and support for diversity. We’re open-minded……until someone’s opinion isn’t in line with ours. Or someone’s emotional state leads them to do/say something unacceptable or questionable. There’s no understanding or forgiveness then. Apologies are ignored and a lifetime of goodness rejected. And Twitter stays on the soap box for days and days and days, gaining momentum as it goes. I try hard to stay out of the drama and I try hard not to condemn the condemners. I don’t want to be that person. But, obviously, the whole situation bothers me. The hive mind can be a judgmental thing.

8 thoughts on “Poem: Support is Conditional

    1. It’s the same old story- we support you as long as you don’t step out of line or (God forbid) make a mistake. Or if you’re having a bad day and aren’t as articulate as usual. The worst part is when they don’t know or care what your track record is. It’s just sad.

      Liked by 3 people

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