ASK ME WHY I’M ANGRY

When words are not enough, and the body is too small to contain it

Ask me why I’m angry

Ask me why I squirm at the thought

of spending time in a crowd

Or walking outdoors at a certain hour

Or passing a rowdy, boisterous group of people on the road

Ask me why I’m angry

At the smirks of judges

Who think commerce is beyond the limits of my comprehension

With a mere 15/ 20/ 30/ 40 years of legal practice

(Source: https://public.work/)

Ask me why I’m angry

For the inability to scream, answer back or,

Shut someone down when and how I want to

For being expected to maintain boundaries and decorum

While others feel free to trample upon them at their whim

Ask me why I’m angry

In dealing with the pains bestowed upon my body

At the gall of that person

Who thinks they can tell me what to do, speak or think

Who doesn’t bother to listen, speaks over me

eager to hear oneself

Ask me why I’m angry

At and in a society that demands some to live for others

Trains some to endure and others to be entitled

Ask me why I’m angry

When I see fellow citizens happily accepting what is being shown to them

At the callousness of it all

The value of life and death being attributed to one’s birth

(Source: https://public.work/)

Ask me why I’m angry…

I will not be able to tell you.

There is too much and too little

Too enraging and too subtle

Too violent and too quiet

Too disturbing and too normal

Ask me why I’m angry

Angry enough to stew in it

Reel it in, balance the trembling lid on the boiling, bubbling anger

Ask me why I’m angry

On behalf of others, at others and for them

Ask me why I haven’t lost it yet

Or am I losing it every passing second;

Piling it up, neatly folding it and shoving it

upon an already overcrowded, unkempt and staggering pile

(Source: https://public.work/)

Ask me why I’m angry

At the unfair, blatantly convenient, power play

At others, at myself

At my affinity to become them

To stumble upon that anger

Which I have been keeping aside

Ignoring and refusing to address…

Ask me and you will find me tired.

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Some intrigue for the curious - While searching for copyright-free images for this post, I searched for ‘Red’ on https://public.work/red and stumbled upon John Bingley Garland’s Blood Book - for readers interested in reading more on this, sharing a link below:

https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/garland-blood-collages/