by lehua laʻa
i choose revolutionary optimism
i choose every day the chance for joy
a small act of defiance
against the non-stop horrors that persist
a micro joy to counteract the macro horrors
i am scared
i just heard that spring run off has peaked
and i fear there will be no river to float on this summer
the thing that keeps my hawaiian heart sane during the desert’s dry heat
may dry up before my very eyes
i am enraged
that this drought is man made
built by the greed of the few
to dehydrate the many
my rage is sacred and justified
as my cousins get snatched off the streets
because they do not speak the right colonizer’s tongue
but ameriKKKa has always hated people like me:
the queer
the defiant
the ones who refuse to rip their culture away to gain whiteness and power
i am right to be angry
i am right to fear
but i must remember
that joy and grief must coexist
i have to remember
we come from resilient ancestors
who faced slavery
and famine
and genocide
and boarding schools
and drought
and pandemics
and revolution
and we can survive this too
if we can break this cycle
if we can free ourselves of the chains of individualism
we might just be able to survive this
we can feed each other
we can clothe each other
we can nourish each other’s spirits
by sharing stories and poems and jokes
by singing together
by loving each other
by chasing micro joys
to counteract the macro-horrors
i choose revolutionary optimism
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