Cheese Puff

I simply can’t believe

There is a cheese puff in power.

Every time I realize what happened

My mood is immediately sour.

 

The election came and went.

I thought we had a fighting chance.

And yet I woke up at 5am,

And the last thing I wanted to do was a happy dance.

 

I cried, I mourned, I sat silent in my seat,

Shocked and disgusted to acknowledge the defeat.

 

2016 seems like a century ago,

And yet here we are again.

Here comes another show.

Will Elon let Trump’s twitter ban go?

 

Another four years with a cheese puff in power,

With misinformation, lies, and hatred published every hour.

 

Where one’s rights are only valued if

you are white and a man

This country really hates women…

Actually, what the fuck…

And God damn.

Half chose a felon

To be in the big,

white house.

Instead of an accomplished attorney of color,

Who is more than a woman in a blouse.

 

A woman running for the highest office in the land.

Who tells little brown girls like me,

“Yes, Yes You Can”

Just follow my lead,

We have a plan.

 

She stepped up when the country was in a time of need,

We thank Joe for his service;

but it’s time for a new seed.

 

A new seed of ideas,

Of fundamental rights and respect.

But now the cheese puff is back in power;

Oh – what the actual heck.

 

The country will soon be covered in cheese dust.

Some will be so happy,

Others will combust.

While it may be a light dusting now…

Come the 20th of Jan more rights could go “ciao”

 

Autonomy

Independence, and

Freedom of choice

Please… us women… we matter…

We demand you hear our voice.

 

As a young woman of color,

Who is 23 years old

I am prouder than ever

Of the story that I have been told.

 

I hail from immigrants, from a land far away

Where assimilation was a challenge

But my family… well… they were here to stay.

 

And now I work with undocumented immigrants

Monolingual Spanish speaking at that

Who I am going to fight for, even if

that means entering combat.

 

No violence, however.

Just advocacy with our words.

Where we kill them with kindness

Even when my brain wants to split into thirds.

 

We social workers have to listen

To educate, to learn.

To be willing to support our clients,

Even if that means we may burn.

 

For our clients,

We use our passion, our privilege, and our power

To fight for their rights –

Every minute,

Every hour.

 

While the cheese dust will continue to fall,

It will not get in our way…

We’ll sweep, we’ll scrub, we’ll cover,

we’ll protect…

We will be okay.

It may not feel like that now,

As many of us are drowning in sorrow.

But we have to be united together,

To build a better tomorrow.

 

 

Author Bio:

Meghna Singh (she/her) is a dual-degree masters candidate at the Columbia University School of Social Work and Mailman School of Public Health. She is passionate about addressing behavioral health at both the individual and population levels and lowering the language barrier amongst Spanish speaking community members. Meghna has case management experience, advocates for suicide prevention, and applies a harm-reduction lens when working with clients with substance use. In her free time, Meghna enjoys baking and watching football.