Remember to shine
Remember?
Remember when you first walked into the uprising..
The chanting
and cheering
and singing
That
Shook your body with its strength
That
Made your heart beat thud in your chest
Stomach turned upside down.
Like falling in love
The echoes of humanity..
Your people!
Crying out for change
For justice
For liberty
Ringing off the walls and every corner!
Shaking that building down to it’s marble bones just like your human bones.
Do you remember?
Your heart feeling like it would burst.
Shivers up your spine that first time
Walking slightly hurried as if eager to not miss a thing..
This change..
Tears in your eyes because you had never hoped for so much.
Your throat choked with joy..
All the physical reactions one finds in a first love.
Remember?
Before the democrats left.
Before the recalls.
Before the bill passed.
Before the silence returned to that building.
Remember how much a part of everybody else you felt?
Do you?
How connected we all were..
All together.
Not just Wisconsin but Egypt and Greece and Spain and Tunisia and Chile and all across the world.
Remember when it didn’t matter who somebody was
what they did
what organization they belonged to
their views on this detail or that discrepancy..
When we were all in it together.
When it only mattered that we were more the same than different.
Remember running yourself ragged, not wanting to leave
And
when you finally laid yourself down how your body buzzed.
Do you remember?
Don’t let it go.
Hold that feeling to you like the last light in a world of darkness.
When they tell you that it’s about an election..
Remember.
When they try to simplify your heart and tell you it’s about one issue or another..
Remember.
When you get tired and just want a simple solution that doesn’t seem forthcoming..
Remember.
When the bills pass
When the news forgets or declares you beaten and done
When the recall you fought for goes awry
When your vote is stolen, suppressed or just paved over with money
When tears cloud your eyes and your throat chokes up
When anger shakes your heart and you want to scream
When your heart feels broken and you think you can't go on
When anything makes that moment you first walked in seem distant
DO NOT FORGET
Remember
Remember and know that light will never be extinguished.
Feel in your bones that sensation and know that none of what they say matters.
Don’t worry who wins the election.
Don’t fear the future.
When you see us divided
reach out your hand and take mine.
When the doubts crowd in and it seems like you will return to that darkness..
When you lose hope..
Remember!
Remember that light and it will not be extinguished.
We cannot go back into the darkness if we remember that we are the light.
SHINE!