Are you safe, J.K.?

It’s just me...
using only initials
for privacy
think you’d want it that way

I get it…
Someone’s wrong
on the internet
I feel the same way

A need to correct
protect
and issue statements

What if their story
goes unchecked
and we all believe
what they say?

I try to sleep
but the web’s resonant weave
notifies me
of something, out of place
waving, acoustically

I race, down-string
mind, spinning through things
that could break
take
or shake me

This tree
is home to many things
that do not look or see
like me

Two-legged freaks
with too-few eyes to meet
wearing feathers and beaks, sharp as thorn

I feel them shriek
shiver and sneak
bending branches and scattering leaves
the petals fly
and blunder, blind
wreaking havoc on my design
I suffer by, subjected
to the unaware and lacking

You and I
are nature’s pride
the one and only, presiding
over our rightful domain, superior

Remember
you can’t trust anything, alright?
and you’re still
not safe, J.K.

Back of the Page

Does anyone else feel an intense sense of hypervigilance when interacting with the online world? What must we believe to be true in order to feel this need to protect, correct, and participate?

I don’t normally react or invest attention in celebrity opinions. But, recently, one instance caught my eye. As you may have heard, She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named shared false information about a female Olympic Athlete, alleging that they won their match because they were a man (they’re not). This misinformation and attempt at furthering hate rhetoric has been covered at length, so I won’t re-hash the story.

Instead, I want to share how it helped me examine my own beliefs. It can feel cliche (and not what you want to hear in the moment), but it’s true that there is a Teacher in everyone.

Are you Safe?

Initially, I came across reaction posts and felt this sense of catharsis in seeing a hateful, harmful, and untrue story get debunked and corrected.

But, then I asked:

Why do people want these stories to be true (regardless of the facts)?

Why do they choose to see differences in appearance, culture, or ability as unfairness?

Why do they tell superiority stories that frame people as less-than?

What is it they are trying to protect?

Do they feel threatened?

When have I felt hypervigilant, and a need to correct or police opinion online?

Do I feel threatened?

Are we safe?

This was the thought process that led me to this poem. It’s a feeling of duality that we seem caught in: us and them, superior and inferior, right and wrong.

We see the injustices and inconsistencies in how our ideals and morals are implemented in practice - double-standards, bias, unfairness. Chaos. We do not feel safe.

When we feel that, we can start to see ourselves as victims in the world. Little 8-legged things calling 2-legged things freaks. Lamenting the leaves that fall in our web, or the creatures we share the tree with. We are afraid, looking for feathers and beaks, and make up any story to protect ourselves. These can contribute to a fantasy where we are the most important being, weaving our pristine, grand designs. We forget that we need the tree, and everything in it, to survive.

This belief system of supremacy has gone terribly, every time.

Now, when I see comments like J.K.’s, I just want to ask “are you safe?” and “what do you want to believe?”

🌳