Love Trumps Hate

Perhaps we should be grateful to Trump

Rather than be depressed, angry, or mystified

Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s all blame and no game

All ban and no plan, the Great Con Man

But he has given voice to the prejudices lying beneath the surface

He has called attention to our racism, sexism, ableism, materialism, and classism lurking in the shadows

We cannot boast of being the home of equality and justice for all

Pretending ‘those problems’ don’t exist here in the land of freedom

We cannot point fingers at terror and violence around the world

And be blind to the micro aggressions in our midst

which can be even more destructive but cloaked in impunity

with the perpetrators living unaware, claiming immunity

Perhaps our pride is greater than his narcissism

Our omissions as harmful as his indiscretions

Perhaps those of us that recoil at his words

and are embarrassed by how we have given him a national stage

Need to take a good long look at our own biases

For we hate in others what we can’t stand to look at in ourselves

Perhaps he’s the mirror that helps us confront our own prejudices

And talk about the very real isms in our midst

Our hypocrisy cringes at his unabashed and hurtful speech

Doesn’t he know he’s supposed to hide those prejudiced views?

Perhaps he has done us a favor by revealing our nation’s truths

For it is only when we are honest and see our problems in broad daylight

that we can begin to have a conversation

and heal the wounds that we have long inflicted on one another

His candidacy will be a great gift to the next president

who will be unable to claim IGNORance

of the very real challenges our nation faces

and the long road we still must travel together

We are a long way from freedom and equality for all

And we all must do our part to get there together

We cannot spurn the spokesman who stands on his tower

and has pulled the comfortable wool from our eyes

The first step to transforming our mind and hearts

is to not cower from the painful truth of our nation

For we know whatever we resist, persists

and that perfect love casts out all fear and hatred

Daily I must remind myself of the ancient Buddhist chant,

“Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love alone is healed”