The View from Here

I woke up to a day like any other,

Except that it wasn’t. 

My view of the city was still outside my bedroom window,

My dogs still snuggled at my feet,

My husband’s somber brown eyes still shone with love;

I went through the motions,

But my heart ached and my body was wracked with the visceral pain of grief. 

Because there was a death. 

A death of gentility and compassion,

A death of inclusivity and acceptance. 

A death of a hope for a different dream for our world. 

Nothing at all to do with Republican or Democrat, right or left, candidates winning or losing. 

But a perspective on humanity and life,

An innocence lost,

A dream for the best of who we are to rise to the top,

Hands reaching down to lift each other up. 

Now, I feel a stranger in a strange land,

Wondering where I fit into it all,

Wondering where we go from here,

All while stubbornly clutching hope tightly to my chest. 

Yes, it was a day like any other,

But it wasn’t.

The world shifted one way,

And I, another.