“can’t waste a day when the night brings a hearse.” – rage against the machine

you know, i have been realizing as the days pile on that I like

rage

not the band– well, yes, the band –but also

anger

i’ve always thought that anger was veryproductive.like a fireit gets rid of somethingdestroys itmakes it into smoke,but gas is a state ofmatterafter all.

smoke:i wish i was that lighti wish i was that: light.i ain’t all the time most the timebut i am realizingthat anger is

mama mama i’m angry!and a child breaks into weeping.

baby i’m angry! – and one seeshow elastic love is: how far it canstretch.

god i’m angry!and you walk away from the altar– but you’ll be back.

mr. president i am angry!and the people take the damn streetstake the streets take the streetsdon’t you see? this is light.this is anger.anger.

so we rollin’ down rodeoand they say anger management.i saymanage your anger – don’tcuckoo’s-nest-clockwork-institute-happy-little-pill – manageto make it something:

to speak angrily but truthfullyto live vehementlyto choose carefullyto love largely

so we can manage.

i have been realizingas the days pile onthat i like anger

that it is the pyre upon whichall the hate of the world will burn.

so manage your angerbuild yourself a fireengulf this damn city – engulf the damncontinent – let it burn make it burnun incendio gigante.

i like angerso at night i am on my bicycle – blastingrage and lighting matches –rolling down rodeoto a quiet and peacefuldeath.

Top photo: “Matches” on PxHere

“What if we took all this anger born of righteous love and aimed it?”

—Ijeoma Olou, “We women can be anything. But can we be angry?” Medium.com

ANGER showcases essays and poetry featuring well-aimed anger from femme writers, writers of color, LGBTQIA+ writers, First Nations writers, and disabled writers.