Anger

I am angry about war. Why does it have to be such a power thing? Why does one country have to one-up another one? I liked the times of the 60’s, when it was peace and love and all that good stuff. Love children, flower power. Why cannot we live in peace now? Why is there so much anger? I’ve felt it enough in my own life, why does it continue to surround me? Why are people so, so unhappy? Are they angry because they had a rotten childhood? Are they angry because they want to be right? I think a good way to be less angry is to write about it. Today in writing class as I wrote about anger, I felt it dissipating from me. I realize I have been holding onto my anger for a long time, like a good friend. But I think now I can let it go. It does not do me any good and keeps me stuck and unable to move on. It has been my companion for too long. I wonder how I will feel when I let it go. Will I feel empty? Will I want to fill up that emptiness with food? Or Sugar? Will other feelings replace it? Could joy move in? These questions I ponder. This anger has felt like a dark piece of coal sitting in my stomach, hard, dark, unmovable. But today after I wrote about my anger, the coal seemed to get softer, change into rainbow hues of color, and began to move around. Suddenly wings sprouted and this thing inside of me began to fly, upward. Through my heart it moved and up into my mouth and flew out through my teeth and into the Center woods. I watched it dance with the cottonwood fuzzies and then it vanished from sight.

I have set my anger free and in the process have freed my soul!

Marlotus O’Keefe 2008