What We're Waiting For

WHAT WE’RE WAITING FOR  

By Lenora Rand

We are waiting for the lies to end
We are waiting for the promises to finally be kept
for the check to arrive
for the phone call that will make everything all right

We are waiting for the diagnosis
for the cure.
for the cure that we really like versus the one we have.

We are waiting for a vaccine that will make things go back to “normal.”

We are waiting until the differences between us seem like good things.

We are waiting for answers. 
We are waiting to finally have enough. 
We are waiting for the hungry to be filled.
for the oppressed to go free.
For jubilee.

We are waiting to stop being so afraid.
We are waiting for our time to come.
We are waiting until the time is right. 
We are waiting until it’s easier to do the right thing. 

We are waiting for the water to boil… over.

We are waiting for the good NOT to die young.
We are waiting for the prisons to be empty.
We are waiting for the right person to finally be in charge.
We are waiting for goodness to have its day.

We are waiting for rest.
for a vacation. 
for wisdom.
for courage. 

We are waiting for the punchline that will actually make us laugh.

We are waiting to be seen, heard
loved for the amazing person we really are.
We are waiting to love ourselves that way.

We are waiting to be well. 
We are waiting to be forgiven. 
We are waiting to forgive. (Which may never happen, we have to admit. The way things are going.)

We are waiting for mercy. 
for justice. 
for anything that can fix this mess.
And that mess. 
And all the messes. 
We are waiting for greed to lose its power over all of us.

We are WEARY.  And we are waiting…. for rest. For sleep. For dreams.

We are waiting for the night to end.
We are waiting to breathe in the unbearable beauty of this black sky, this dark night, this waiting.
To see this too is good.

We are waiting to wake up
To the way things are
And to what they can be
And to who we could be

Wake up.
Wake up now!

We are waiting to leave the womb. 
We are waiting to be born.
We are ready to be born.