May I be excused?
a five minute friday piece | excuse
Every Friday, I spend five minutes or so writing on a word prompt from the Five Minute Friday community. Then, I hit publish. Good for the writing muscles and for cultivating a playful approach to the writing work that can sometimes be taken oh-so-seriously.
when the noise only grows emptier for the volume
and the pitch-perfect performance tastes stale
when being present is counted as presence
and we’re taught to teach by talking instead of listening
when what matters is how well we line the mold
and not who we already image-bearing are
when we pedestal the speakers who parade on stages
and leave their living lies unchallenged
when we measure every motive, excise every emotion,
and still ignore bleeding bodies, suffering minds
when we demand allegiance to flags dripping with empire
and refuse to own any history we’ve not white-washed
when we proclaim the bondage of law as freedom
and skip the soul of love in every sentence
then I’ll wake up and a backbone will begin to bloom
straight up from the ashy soil in which I’ve sat
and I’ll stand up and walk out and let those
stages and stained glass
be exactly what they are —
illusion
and I’ll stride down the steps and out
into fields set afire with grace
and learn to grow roots and sow love
beyond a single patch of sacredness
and do you know, I won’t even ask to be excused?
This piece first appeared at amandadzimianski.com.
View today’s Five Minute Friday link up.
