Bernie Slutsky

  My white skin It's a badge that is stained That plays with my mind I sometimes call myself white But it's only my skin The tragedy is that my whiteness has seeped into my brain and my eyes I view the world through a white lens I see others with different shades of skin  They speak with accents and have unique, even exotic dialects My whiteness tells me they are "the other" My brain says "watch out you are in danger" This how my whiteness sees my world and those who are not white This planet has many colors that capture my heart The lush green foliage in the summer The crystal clear blue hue of the winter sky during a sunny afternoon I can't help but get drawn into the natural beauty of nature When looking up and there is a sudden appearance of a rainbow following a dramatic thunder storm it's almost impossible not to get hypnotized by the spectrum of color up above We live and we exist in living color Every day My whiteness goes way beyond skin dee...

My silence protects me from being consumed by the desperate pulsating waves  That run down the inside of my chest and stomach This run away train has been eroding my inner landscape for as long as I can remember It is mysterious and powerful When I dare to take a stand, my actions dissolve into  silence and I sink into a paralysis of numbness and chaos I hide in the dark, lonely, night where I pray for survival I am imbedded into the furniture of a room where I won't be seen Hidden from the eyes of those who won't gaze through me I am not to be found out I reside in obscurity to protect the fragility  Of my delicate psyche  That I've learned to hide  And I run as fast as I can from it This is my cross to bear It feels ancient and is bigger than me It is who I am and more Today I saw a slight reflection of that haunted area My protective shield that has guarded this place inside that I've had no stomach to see, hear or feel has cracked I stumbled upon that part o...

  Now that I have reached age 70, reality smacks me in my face The rules we lived by have changed and it throws me off center It shocks me Radical hypocrisy and shamelessness are in fashion Words are used to attack, gaslight and harm Civility is not valued Consciousness, heart and soul in our society, has been tossed into the garbage Individuality with no regard for others has surfaced like a plague This is oppressive Many of us treat one another with condemnation We are motivated by getting ahead and attaining power, money and status We look at other human beings as objects to manipulate, use and toss The planet is seen as a bone to chew on and then discard The ones who feel entitled blast away at the heavenly mountains and forests or they seep toxic chemicals into our precious lands and holy waters In order to pad bank accounts and fill pockets With disregard to the rhythm, harmony, the flow of nature  With disrespect and callous endangerment to the health and psyche of thos...

  The shame  How it sizzles in my lower chest Like a sleeping volcano that is waking up Each time another racist political missile is launched Against the oppressed who have been targeted by policies and laws that strip them of rights and freedom since the birth of this nation By the cowardly band of white extremists who devised and continue to build a racist system that holds down and chokes the breath out of "nonwhite" human beings to keep them from attaining any voice in society.  The white man who took the lands illegally in the first place made up stories how nonwhites are subhuman And it was the white man who coerced and kidnapped the Black bodies over here and then enslaved them centuries ago They made up lies about how these "savages" are out of control and are to be feared They projected their own inhumanity onto them They spread the delusion that white people are superior The only way that people of color and the indigenous can survive is by serving the wh...

  I gaze at the wonder and the pain in their eyes I hear and feel a desperate struggle to stay alive in the sound of their voices The stories of    families who are displaced into the cellars of society Who have been thrown down like a doormat to be stepped on by those who feel entitled Who I've ignored, not seen, passed over and dismissed Even though I swore to myself I wasn't that type  Even though my job was to help those in need Even though my reputation was the tender, vulnerable, male therapist who is compassionate Even though I was known as the one to teach men about being open Even though I protested, marched with, and gave credence to the antiracist movement Even though I campaigned and voted for progressive candidates Even though I pledged allegiance to the social, criminal and climate justice movements Even though I grew up in New York City and saw and felt inside myself, the pain, joy and everyday life experiences of people whose skin is darker than mine ...

  How am I supposed to like the politician who intentionally tries to suppress the votes of the people? How am I supposed to like the people who vote for those politicians? How am I supposed to like the senators and representatives who pass legislation that is racist and fascist? How do I even try to like the people who elect such an element to our government? How do I accept those that spread false narratives about the pandemic, the vaccines, facts related to the welfare of the people and about the environment? How do I accept people who listen to that and keep voting for those who push falsehoods into positions of power? How am I supposed to like those who turn their backs on the suffering of people all around them? How am I supposed to look in the eyes of people that feed the system that runs off of oppression and not feel resentment? How am I supposed to have compassion for those who either knowingly or blindly choose to support systemic wide injustice? How do I even try to lik...

 The expansive sky above was painted baby blue, releasing rays from the mid-afternoon sun that warmed the chilling eighteen-degree day This vibrant canopy looked over me as I ran along the puddled, sloshy asphalt streets from newly melted snow It is early March and winter is slowly retreating making way for spring My body absorbs the energy of this new day This particular moment is lazy, quiet but vibrant And I need to run My legs are longing to propel forward To push off the pavement I absorb into the winter landscape that is about to transform To make space for new growth and blossoming life of the new season in waiting As I feel my body work, a sense of wonder comes over me How this planet cycles in and out of darkness, light, hot and cold Where leaves fall, nests are built, flowers bloom and eggs hatch Pleasure, pain, birth and death are components of the earth's existence Experiencing loss and grief with mother earth allows us to appreciate life to the fullest I delight in the...