A Comfortable Unease

Ambitions are somewhat tempered
In this autumnal season
The earlier aspirations slightly tarnished
But still remain well within reach
Clear-eyed about the task ahead,
The obstacles will be surmounted
The searcher's gaze resolute and firmly set
Focused on the promise of better days
Traveling light, with bags at the ready
The journey presents itself as ever
Proceeding on the road to freedom

II.

Off kilter living is our lot, it seems
A pose of preemptive cynicism readied

Prescience perhaps, and lessons learned
And so we make the best of things

Caution, my kin, take heed
For fairweather friends loom

Such is our jaundiced perspective
The sense of dislocation prevails

That we are guests in our own lives
And truly behold the shock of the familiar

We make homes for friends alike and visitors
As we cross these boundaries seeking shelter

Weapons of restraint. Contra provocation
We turn to conversation, and quiet reflection

Yet we were left unrequited, aching with yearning
While, beneath the surface, understanding was on hand

We were promised: our liminal dreams would be fulfilled
Still we engage in the struggle, if they would only listen

The burden of early sacrifice, in this, our quiet revolution
Has left an impact that can only be discerned in the stillness in time

The broad outlines emerge of a duty of care, if not a philosophy
And so pause, momentarily, to trace the reflections in the mirror

It's fine to affect hospitality, for it doesn't cost you none
Most of all, speak softly, my friend, speak softly, your time will come

III.

The sad fact of our fraught modernity remains
Our sole assurance in this life of precarity
Is to live out elusive dreams of normalcy

Good enough, some say, good enough
Hold them to their precious words
We heard of liberty and equal protection

Yet experience has taught us harsh lessons
All their rules were made to be broken
And the inconvenient ones rewritten at will

Who do the laws serve? We deserve an answer
Justice and freedom are the heart of the matter
The rhetoric ought to be more than propaganda

Presented with the reality of a fickle state
Replete with escape clauses and underlying conditions
We recognize that we tread a fine line of liability

So we made our peace with this life
Consoled with a comfortable unease
But vigilant, we will bear witness

A Comfortable Unease, a playlist

A soundtrack for this note. (spotify version)

• (If You Ain't) Comfortable by Lynden David Hall
• Welcome to the Colored Section by Donnie
• It Could Happen to You by Ahmad Jamal
• Blue 7 by Sonny Rollins
• Electric Relaxation by A Tribe Called Quest
• The Colored Section by Donnie
• Umi Says by Mos Def
• Cry Together by The O'Jays

See previously: The Fleeting Canvas

File under: culture, observation, perception, displacement, immigration, poetry, toli

Writing log. June 2, 2022