These Beating Hearts

A poem about loving your neighbor as yourself

I wrote this poem as a response/reflection for our current climate of division. Lately I’ve been in rooms where my political view is the minority, so I have heard jokes, statements, and tones of ridicule that have grieved my heart. I am doing my best to voice my concerns about these statements directly with the people involved. I believe strongly in staying friends with people from different political backgrounds. I want to yell, “I am one of those people you 

Aly Prades

are making fun of!” I want my friends to be tender with their words when I’m around. To acknowledge my different point of view.

And also.

I shouldn’t have to be in the room.

I am writing this for myself, too. How many times have I made a flippant statement or sarcastic comment denigrating people who vote differently than me? I am just as guilty, though I think my current status in the minority makes me more aware of my words and tone than I used to be.

I would go so far to say that we should watch even what political satire and memes we consume and spread.

It comes down to loving your neighbor as yourself.

If I wouldn’t want the other side laughing at memes ridiculing my point of view, then I’m not going to do it to them. A while back I was very frustrated at some people in my life for getting their news from only one source, but realized I was doing this as well. Now I always read the headlines from left, right, and center so I can see where the people I love are coming from. I know social media feels silly/harmless and it’s easy to say “it’s just a joke,” but I refuse to fuel the us vs. them narrative with what I consume and share, even with jokes. I can’t read/listen to political hate and love and respect my friends and family well.

I’m sure I still make mistakes. I’m sure I’m not as sensitive as I think, and I’m pretty positive even if I hold my tongue, my face might speak for itself (resting judgy face, anyone?).

I wrote this poem so that we all might remember that the other “side” is filled with people we know and love (and just might be sitting in your living room.) Let’s act accordingly.

On to the poem!

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These beating hearts
What if the other side is not a side at all but the beating hearts of my favorite loved ones?

What if the other side has a favorite color (teal) and hums Backstreet Boys under their breath?

What if those hearts were in my living room, feet tucked under their legs on the couch, twiddling absent-mindedly with the fringe of the blanket?

What if they were on my social media feed, hearting photos of my kids, behind me in the checkout line, buying toilet paper and ground turkey and bubbly water?

Would I say that joke then? Join the ridicule?

If I knew I would see the sting of pain on their faces, jump at their flinches, or squirm down the silence?

Would I forward that meme?

Let the judgment slip from loose lips?

Would I want it said about me?

Can I really take the moral high ground if I don’t love my neighbor as myself in what I consume, repeat, laugh at, stand up for?

They shouldn’t have to be in the room.

We have been tricked into thinking some people over there think some certain way that is

terrible, idiotic, demonic.

I am angry at assumptions.

Sick of hiding.

Saddened by invisibility.

What if the other side is not a side at all but the beating hearts of my favorite loved ones?

Can we handle these brittle hearts with care?
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In His Name, Aly

*** I’d love to hear any tips or stories you have regarding news/media consumption and loving friends/family/neighbors who may have a different political persuasion than you. I personally get the news from the All Sides Now app and do not share or post any denigrating (even jokey/sarcastic) memes or stories, even in dms/directly to people I know agree with me. I have also stopped watching political satire, which I believe has a place in revealing truth, but for me, it just reinforced negative views of the people I love.

***This poem originally came from my Plunge/Paint/Poem practice. Sign up for my weekly(ish) Plunge/paint/poem updates if you don’t want to miss one!