Bloody berries
As I walk, the sun floats just above the horizon, frozen in blue ice. Except for that sky and a few bright scraps of litter at my feet, grays and browns are the only colors in sight.
Then I come to this bush, whose berries are screaming "red" at the top of their lungs. The color is so inviting I want to pop a berry between my teeth, to stain my lips and tongue. I’d be changed forever. Or at least temporarily - the cold tangy blood would probalby make me sick.
I walk past the yelling berries, which have turned my thoughts to the qualities of vitality, resilience, bitterness. I saw so much bitterness and blood in my newsfeed today, where those misguided white Americans stormed our Capitol by the thousands.
Their poisonous beliefs, led these rioters to perform unconscionable acts in their nation’s most sacred place. The tepid response of the police added further shame to the day’s events. Nobody who watched can now deny that American police treat citizens who are descended from Africans and Caucasians - let’s admit it - as differently as black and white.
Besides being poisonous the rioters, like the brillant red berries, also have good qualities: vitality and resilience, for example, in the pursuit of their beliefs. For now, let’s set aside the crucial question why their beliefs are so unkind and fact-blind.
Our nation needs citizens who are resilient and determined, just as every garden needs splashes of color. But these people storming our Capitol belied their brilliant color; they behaved like an invasive species. And invasive species - whether they’re brilliant poisonous bushes or misguided rioters - can overrun and destroy whole ecosystems.
And the taste of the fruit makes my body feel sick.
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