What does June mean to a therapist? What does June mean to you?
It might mean sweet, long awaited summer,
the beginning or the ending of another year.
School’s out. Kids shout.
People play,
We enjoy the hot, thick days.
But what does June mean to a therapist?
June means Pride.
June means Black Lives Matter.
June means that all the lives of all the persons who feel small
and are encouraged to hide
and not show their true selves
not show their true selves for the whole rest of the year…
– June –
Means –
it’s okay to be me?
Just for a little while?
What kind of message does that send to those precious lives?
That they can be
Free,
they can be
Proud,
but only for a little while.
Now, June isn’t about me.
It’s about you.
No. I’m just here to stand next to you,
to sit next to you,
and listen as your voice cries out in frustration.
But I sit here next to you and my soul
cries out.
I hear your story and I tear my clothes.
You wail in anger, you scream,
you seethe
for the injustice,
and I
beat the drums of war.
No, I’m just a therapist. But June sparks something in me.
I can feel it, the coals that burn in my eyes
and move into my belly as I am
parched,
searching for the justice that
We
Can’t
Find.
Because it’s locked behind crates of
powdered white wigs
And buried
under piles of dusty,
broken bricks.
