John and Jane

What happened to us?
Where did we go?
Blending into the crowds of Jane and John Does.
Featureless bodies hide behind cardboard suits,
Our lip less mouths and cat-caught tongues tangled in rhymes,
and we walk and we walk, lost in straight lines.
Left right,
left right,
left right,
left, right?
Each of us unaware of what none of us know,
We're scared to learn, to listen, to grow
Because it's a confession that we may not already know everything.
But did you know?
That when John tells Jane he's stuck at the office, he's in between the neighbour's bed sheets.
Or that Jane changed her name back when she changed her nose?
We brush past John and Jane as we strut down the concrete runway we've paved in our city's streets,
Absorbed in our lies, judgements, secrets, defeats,
All replaying in our minds like broken cassettes.
Over and over and then under we go,
Replacing our truths with what we're told we should know.
Skid row,
That's where our compassion is heading,
Our integrity and dignity killing time until he gets there.
Our minds are in hand cuffs, our voices heavy in chains.
I wish I could repair this, I wish I could explain what happened to us.
Where did we go?
Lost in the friction of our fears and our egos.
They're gossiping with each other, those are the whispers we hear
When the silence becomes louder ourselves become clear.
And its ugly, its scary, I wish I could pinpoint that moment
When the world first claimed certain loves were illegal,
When a person's skin colour began to speak for them,
When a woman was given sex as a career path,
When child's play included warfare,
When it was decided bombs speak louder than words,
When we became products of plastic and paint.
Stop.

Can you?
Are you able to hush your mind quiet enough to think?
Can you close your eyelids tight enough to really see?
Can you tape your lips shut long enough to speak?
Can you numb yourself cold enough until you sweat your shivers and really feel?
Maybe you won't be in love with what you see,
But have the courage to change it, have the courage to be.

I dare you.
To stop for a moment.
To mute the voices inside your head,
and listen to your heart instead.

Next time you pass john, ask him about his family,
And when you see Jane, invite her for coffee.
Take a step.
Someone has to.