By: Linda M. Crate

we’ll show you

i don’t belong
to this world,
i am a part of the
one you are too afraid
to take a chance on;
i am part of a world
much better than this one—

there’s love enough
for everyone,
and the planet isn’t scorched and dying;

there are plants growing everywhere
and trees taller than mountains
know everyone’s names,
and the wind is whispering secrets
of old and new;

and no one cares about profit
because we’re all able to reach our dreams—

the world we could have is waiting,
just take the hand of any dreamer;
we’ll show you.

###

if you could only believe

i am not rooted
nor limited
by what you believe
the world can be

i have seen a better
place in my dreams,

and little kindnesses and goodnesses
which make the fight for a better
place all worth it;

it is easy to be a cynic and it is easy
to give up

but i was born a warrior—

always i have fought,
so i will continue because
my magic and my power and my voice
are worthy;

so is yours
if you could only believe.

###

help us build it

we could exist
in a better
realm,

we could have a
better place
in which to live;

you have to let go
of everything you have
ever known and take
a chance because
there may be safety in
what you know—

but what adventure
is a life without any risks?

you want a better world,
help us build it;
stop complaining about
your fears and put them to sleep.

###

so watch us bloom

i know
a better existence
can be true,
i’ve seen it in my
dreams;

and i refuse to give up
because the world is beautiful
in all of her diversity

we should all be
celebrated—

flowers don’t think about how much
prettier the flower next to them
will be,
they just bloom;
and fill the world with a beautiful
fragrance
all the same—

so watch us bloom
a better state
of being
than the nightmares we
have always known.

###

not everything we were taught was true

how many years have
we been told
impossible?
then seen the impossible
become reality?

i refuse to believe that this is
all there can be

wasn’t born to pay bills
and then die,
i am going to fight for the world
that i’ve seen in my dreams;

she is kinder and wilder and more free
than anything you’ve ever known—

i know she’s worth fighting for
so i refuse to settle
for all the things we’ve been taught because
not all we were taught was true,
and some people
were poor teachers and examples of what
this world should be.

###

new futures to build

let the past
be
the past

we have new
futures to build

our world can be
so much better than
every nightmare
and trauma who has
touched and tortured and
haunted us all these
years,

and i know that maybe
people are scared;

but i am done being limited
there’s a better place than this
so i am going to go after
my dreams and aspirations because
i know that i can lead by example.