There is no such thing as… anymore

There is no such thing as silence anymore

I think

On the third of July as I watch my son twitch at each preemptive explosion

There is no such thing as respect anymore

I am informed helpfully when some young person fails to capitulate properly

Or there is no such thing as safety anymore

In every moment when something has gone wrong, when a sudden sidestep becomes a knife to the throat

There is no such thing as kindness anymore surely

In a world where trusting people is seen as the worst foolishness of all, the biggest mistake.

Better yet, I say there was never silence

The deafening sound of a thunderclap or waterfall or the soft swish of grass as the rabbit hops away

There was never sudden and complete respect for everyone

So many of us were never ever safe, not once, in the world idealized by the safest (most dangerous) among us

Many of us forgot how to be kind, had it toughened out of us, burned away.

It’s okay.

Open your mouth or close it. Be an explosion or a waterfall. Show respect to others when it is also respectful of yourself. Find your safe spaces and your dangerous ones and your hopeful ones and your broken ones.

Kindness can be worked back in, smoothing the edges.

I refuse to live in a world that only subtracts.