November 6, 2012

the ballot

A vacuum of silence greets us at the booth, and we poise a dark marker
above a scoring sheet, the throb of television commercials and editorials behind us.
We are inking history, we can feel it, and the choice has never felt so divisive and clear
at the same time. And yet, each day is full of crucial and opposing votes – to accept a loss
or linger in its deficit, to forgive or cling to pain, to stay marinating on the couch or
climb onto the haunches of bicycle and head toward an unknown trail. We could let
the other car make a U-turn or stay, throne-like, in our seat, honking our displeasure.
We could take the leap for good or keep an old longing interminably unmet.
There are seedlings of choice scattered everywhere, and the choice is ours to sow them.
It’s not just the country that’s at stake. It’s our humanity. Our freedom.