To a Former College Professor

You told us to watch Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement Speech
in which he talks about following our passions and trusting our winding journeys.
Then, you berated my classmate for wanting to be an actor.

Just as Martin Luther King viewed the White moderate as the greatest obstacle to justice,
I view people like you as the greatest obstacle to vulnerable kids’ fulfillment and happiness,
not to mention great scientific and artistic advancements to our world.

People like you,
who purport to love dreams
yet fight for the status quo.

(Nov. 2021)

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

George Bernard Shaw

Sex Dreams IV

This poem is an excerpt from a series of poems about dreams of preventing and healing trauma and creating a better culture around sexuality.

—————-

My deepest sex dream
is that one day
we will create a world
in which it is safe for
women and girls
to discover and explore
their sexuality
without fear
of physical
or reputational
danger.