Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 2016)
Poetry Page 14 Street Roots • August 19-25; 2016 My Anxiety Martin Luther by Amy Garrigos by Ron Sanford Anxiety is a real thing, Anxiety is a fear, Anxiety is an emotion, When is civil disobedience right? When the system has totally failed Sometimes it is right to rebel That anybody can have! When you know you have been cheated When policies are straight from hell Sometimes it is right to rebel We all feel it, We all fear it, We all sense i t - When leaders are pathological liars When your parents hide behind a veil Sometimes it is right to rebel But some can get out of iti When judges, cops and so-called doctors lie When their notes are used as a means to deny Sometimes it is right to rebel I sit in the dark shaking and afraid of it I don’t speak sometimes due to.it, I have used substance to escape i t But that’s how I deal with it! When their fiscal responsibilities trump your rights When the money they have mismanaged is the most high When the letter is more important than the spirit of the law You know it is time to rebel To rebel like Martin Luther Don’t judge my levels of anxiety, Don’t judge how I cope with it, And please don’t judge me! - Just learn to agree, We all have anxiety! In Service of Sorrows by Kenneth T. Nickell There it is. The barrel to the temple or the needle to Vein. “One last shot of this. Better get it this time or this will just keep on forever. - In recent weeks I’ve found a great deal of strength and compassion to get me going. Everyone is sick, drunk, angry. I have to be steady. They don’t like that I walk in Grace. No they don’t like me at all! I’ll have to use that vulnerability. Can’t show any weakness now. Flip it, help them anyways, as a gentleman should. This will all be over soon enough. Then one more murder jot two and everyone around me turns into a monster. I was asked once not long ago what weapons I’d then take to war. I raised my pen and paper. That’s what I have then. Well that and about six bucks. They need me there, they just can’t stand that they will either refuse me completely or help me bring us back froift the brink. I will stand here on this line. I will die here if need be. Serving the mad, poor, hungry, deviant, outbreak at ground one. Come on send me your sorrows I will serve you. I will not save you. FARMERS’ MARKET Did you serve in the WEDNESDAYS 2-7PM Armed Forces experiencing or at risk of Land are becoming homeless? III! Transition Projects Please call 855.425.5544 or visit 650 NW Irving Street
