how I feel today

This is how I feel today. It’s raining, the neighbor’s dog is whining pitifully, and I am fighting the urge to crawl back into bed. But then I heard someone (my better self?) say, “Your voice is needed now.” So I will try to write today the essay I was planning to write next week. And I will let myself sound like a broken record because some words bear repeating over and over again. I look at Lucille Clifton’s words pinned to my bulletin board: “everyday/something has tried to kill me/and has failed.” Tamir is dead but we are still alive. We must testify. They kill one to cow a thousand of us into silence, but we will not comply.