The days leading up to the 2016 Presidential Election were a whirlwind of Facebook posts proudly announcing that we had voted and hoping that our candidate won. Until election night -- then everything was quiet. People stayed in and watched the elections with their families or their friends. Some of us felt like our entire worlds were hanging in the balance, completely dependent on this election. The following hours after the announcement of our new president was some of the most unique I have ever experienced. I felt and witnessed so many things in the aftermath of this presidential race and felt inspired to write this poem.
In The Last Few Hours
In the last few hours,
it has felt like
our country has hit a new low.
For so many of us
it feels
like the world
is ending.
In the last few hours,
I have watched my peers
my friends
cry as they watched their dreams
die.
I watched as people I love
screamed into pillows,
punched inanimate objects,
and stared at nothing with dead eyes.
In the last few hours,
I remembered the shirt I was wearing.
Gray, with USA plastered in red letters across the chest.
And suddenly I felt the need to put on something --
anything else.
Do not mistake this
as me not having any patriotism or love for my country,
because that’s not true.
But at that moment,
I felt unclean.
Dirty.
Violated.
Because in the last few hours,
someone who is openly
judeophobic,
homophobic,
sexist,
and racist,
was handed my country on a silver platter.
And as we listened
to the acceptance speech,
we were forced to think about
all the things we’ve been fighting for
over the last century.
And how we were
so close
to having so much of it
taken away.
At least that’s what it felt like.
In the last few hours,
we didn’t really know
what to do
or how to react.
So we went on a walk.
Around the dark campus,
mostly in angry, hopeless silence,
we wandered from place to place.
We sat far away from each other
and we didn’t talk.
Sometimes we glanced at one another
and shook our heads.
I think the only reason
we remembered we were still alive,
and not completely numb with shock,
was the wind buffeting against us.
In the last few hours,
families started making plans
in case they were going to be split up
by deportation.
In the last few hours,
a close friend of mine
gave me the medication he takes for depression and heart problems
because he knows how strong it is
and he didn’t trust himself with it at that moment.
In the last few hours,
I felt guilty that I hadn’t done more
In the name of not wanting to be involved
And disliking politics.
In the last few minutes,
I’ve decided that this is all the more reason
for me to be the change.
I cannot count on my president to represent me
or any other minority, for that matter.
I cannot count on other people
to be my voice
and make the changes
that I want to see in the world.
But more than that,
I refuse to depend on someone else
to be a role model
for future generations to come.
This election
while infuriating
and heartbreaking
and devastating
will not be the reason why we lose all the progress we’ve made.
Don’t be terrified for your future
and decide that crying and complaining is enough to change it.
Our uphill battle
just got a lot steeper,
but that just means
it’s time to fight harder
for what is right.
In the last few hours,
we realized that we are responsible
for the next four years
and the rest of our lives.
I wrote that with the hopes that not only would people realize just how terrifying this election has been for so many different groups of people and for so many reasons, but also in the hopes that those who are scared will find courage to fight and know that not all is lost. Nothing has been taken away from us -- not yet (except maybe our peace of mind) -- so it’s up to us to make sure we fight to keep our rights to our bodies, our homes, and our religion. However, it is not only our job to keep what we’ve already gained, but to keep pushing for more and keep fighting for true equality.
This is an original piece -- please do not distribute without credit.
