a different world

A Postscript to the Election:

I awoke today
in a different world,
where common sense
and common decency
seem to be devalued,
supplanted
by hatred
and fear.

Is this a new world order,
or is it merely the old one
laid bare?

Have we been blind
to the darkness
bubbling beneath
our blanket of civility,
seeing only the surface
of what we espouse?

Awakened from our dream,
we have reason to despair.

Or we can dig deeper,
acknowledging
the ugliness
and the grace
inside us all,
to build a new dream,
grounded in the truth
of who we are,
and begin the long walk
out of this darkness.