So here is a poem I wrote, it is one that highlights some of the key issues within our society on accepting other people’s different beliefs and ideologies as well as the darker side of human nature in terms of power and control. The feature picture is a cultural artist picture I took in China Town in San Francisco, this is to remind people of the beauty of separate cultures as opposed to only looking on the more negative extremist side. This is written from my point of view and the feelings of frustration at the continuous media attention on only distressing and hateful events that inspire fear as well as my exasperation at some people’s inability to understand that different people share in different visions and different beliefs and different people have different values and different ways of life and that there is nothing wrong with that unless this way of life is advocating hate towards a differing way of life- confusing, I know!

It’s hard to have faith

when the entire human race

seems to be up to their waists

in animosity and hate

maybe I’ll go to space

anywhere but here,

just another place,

because some people here forget

the importance of respect

the importance of acceptance

and the emptiness of resentment

hate crimes against humanity

are hate crimes against yourself

why can’t you see that beneath our unique

individuality, we are all from the same shelf

no god, no background, no colour, no love

should divide us, yet we judge each other

based on a bible, a book, a scripture

a man made construct, just like a bridge

something that can unite us or crumble and ignite

intolerance and judgement,

a belief that you are superior

because of your ideals, an inability

to listen, to hear the voices of others,

to embrace those who are different,

but instead you silence their voices,

you steal their human rights,

rights to be who they want to be,

a freedom of choice which they don’t have

because you don’t like what you see

because it goes against your ideals,

but why do you care?

making someone feel small

just isn’t fair,

I could judge you, for being so ignorant

for failing to to understand,

for being so indifferent

certain that your vision is real,

that your vision is right

that you are the puppet master

pulling the strings of man so tight,

deciding to fight

in the name of a religion

created by man,

to murder and to devastate,

an entire race, to attack a culture

to create chaos and incite fear,

no religion was born out of hate,

a pact of guidance between a person and their god

there is no harm in believing

there is no harm in seeking a greater meaning,

but there is harm in genocide, in discrimination,

in encouraging violence and breeding hate,

in playing god yourself,

and amongst all the delirium,

it can be easy to forget,

there are so many other problems,

but we can’t combat them yet

until we stand as one force,

an idealistic thought,

not government taught,

corrupt politicians with narrow minds,

empty promises lacking in empathy,

masked extremist opinions with no humanity,

it’s no wonder I’m losing my sanity,

so maybe I will go to space,

to see if there is another race

where misogyny is an unknown concept,

where they look racism straight in the eye,

where people don’t march for the sake of a change

they don’t understand

but for the good of mankind,

where people feel content,

loving someone of the same sex,

not a life where people are all equal

because that can only lead to the

selfish tendencies of human nature,

but a life where people are understanding,

a life where people wouldn’t rather die

than be themselves,

a life where girls feel comfortable

walking alone at night,

a life where boys are allowed to cry

rather than fight and not show fright,

a life where there are no negative

social constructs,

masculinity, virginity, sexual orientation

the house you were born in,

“the complexion of your pigment”

no unrealistic beauty standards

like the size of your waist,

the size of your nose,

when you look down on your stomach,

if you can see your toes

none of these should matter

hurtful, irrelevant schoolgirl chatter,

a life with only one goal

in sight,

to be kind but also to be honest,

to be opinionated but to be more than tolerant,

to be accepting of others, to realise

what another person does, doesn’t affect you,

because although it may trouble you,

life’s too short, to spend it

stopping someone with the same

biology as yourself, from living their life

just because they challenge false ideals

instilled in you from an early age,

so why don’t you break out of your cage,

and live your own life and instead

be an actor on your own bloody stage