Here they are!
The prompt for day 5 was: stream of consciousness; just write-don’t worry about beauty/wisdom/form; write for at least 10 minutes. Here’s what came out:
it’s too much
too much for the eyes to take in
too much for the heart to carry
too much for the brain to even begin to understand
I want to look away
I want to harden my heart and
disconnect the nerves linked to my brain
But the pain and heartbreak
are better than numbness
I think…
Are they?
I know I don’t want to be like “them”
like those who can be so flippant about death
like those who could bind humans and
callously toss them into the rubble of a school
… like trash
… and encased in the same wrapping
like those who can change the channel or scroll past without shedding a tear
without feeling one more crack form in their heart
numbness sounds like a vacation
… on the surface
numbness is a hell
… isolated, unfeeling,
a wall
Because if you can’t
… or more realistically won’t …
experience the deep grief of the world
How can you ever expect to
connect with Joy?
… the core of our inherent rights
And, as has been said,
“Joy is an act of resistance”