Hi, Anger.

How have you been?
Pretty busy these days I guess.
Seen your face on the news so often lately.
We rarely have time to talk,
but I often feel your presence in my heart.

There’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.
I’ve seen you flirting with that guy who’s so full of himself,
so much bravado it’s clear he’s insecure —
        well, clear to most of us, anyway.
You know the one I’m talking about,
self-righteous with a good-ol’-boy grin,
      holding his artillery collection out for all to see like unsolicited dick pics to the world.
Why would you cozy up to that guy?
When you’re with him,
his malignancy metastasizes and you seem
      just another cog in his chaos,
      buried in his uncontrollable division.

Please don’t abandon those of us who respect you,
who listen to what you have to say,
look beneath the surface to who you really are.
You deserve to be
      seen instead of mocked,
      used instead of abused.
You can be so righteous, pure, good.
A burlap banner.
Thickly grace-filled dancer,
     skin on fire, tear-filled eyes,
     unfolding power and poise out of pain and prejudice.
It ain’t over till the phat lady sings,
     your swan song a discordant strain straining toward complex harmonies.

I see you.
I believe in you.
You are anger, not hate.
You are important.
You are powerful.
Some would use you as damning evidence of (warped) patriotism,
     but you can rise as a saving grace for a place of just liberty.
You can be a force for truth and love.
You can be my friend. <3