We are not that different.
We are not that different
You and me
Me and them
Them and you
We are not that different
Each one of us carries bee stings in our hearts
We cringe and turn away in our ways
Anger crackles to protect the ache
Bitterness bites to soothe the welts
Resentment hisses in our defense
We can’t help but feel the muck of judgment
That defensive reactive judgment
Or that assumption
That sure knowing that judgment is held against us
That validated story of the other rises
And the validated story of ourselves meets it face to face
Our armor rises
Our frustration flares
The blinders hold strong with all their might
As we simmer in our inability to understand
How could one hurt me so
How could one think of me so
How could one see the world so
How could one not understand
It’s so clear
It’s so clear
How could they not see
How could they dare
Our hearts seal and push away
Our righteousness rears its head
We find our like kind
And even deeper we think
It’s oh so clear
It’s oh so clear
It’s oh, so, clear
They are so far, far, away
They are so twistedly confused
They are so wrong
They are mistaken
But we are not realizing we are not that different
We are not that different
But we find what we think is our like kind
And protect ourselves against the clash of another’s truth
Blind ourselves from another's same pain
And this confrontation of butting hearts
Keeps us a far, far, away
This confrontation of coping
or lack of
Keeps us far, far, away
But really
But really my truth is your truth
And your truth is my truth
We all have the same narrative in our head
We all have the same narrative in our bones
We all have a unique viewpoint
And we all see a different hue
But when it comes down to it
We all want to belong
We all want to feel seen
For our truth
We all want to be understood
We all want to be happy and loved
What if everyone was right
And we could just acknowledge that everyone is not wrong
That the truth of each makes sense to each, in a not horrible way
But a way that makes sense for them
Because the truth is
That all our truths together become The Almighty Truth
Woven and bound
Seeing from every which way
In this confusing mess of a world that we are all trying to navigate
We need all of our eyes to see the full picture
What if we could just acknowledge
That it’s all a twisted, convoluted mess
That we’ve all been stung by the same bees
And that we are not that different
That we are not that different
What if we were bound with our sisters
What if we stopped burning one another at the stake
What if we stopped competing
What if we refused to feel threatened
What if we realized her stings from the bees
Are the same as mine
Just colored in different stories
Different characters
And different ways
What if we realized that the stings of men
Are the stings of women
And the stings of women
Are the stings of the men
And the stings of the two-spirited
Are the stings of all of us
What if we realized the stings of blue
And the stings of the red
Were the stings of the purple
What if we realized the sting of the earth
Is the sting of our mother
And the sting of the patriarchy
Is just as much a sting to our fathers as everybody else
What if we realized the sweet stings from our bumbly lovers
All came from the same painstaking longing
What if we could rest in the holy pause
And not react
But watch
What if we could listen
What if we could feel
What if we could see
What if we could see that we are not that different
That we are not that different
What if we could stop the vicious cycle of separation
What if we could stop the vicious cycle of violence
What if we could stop the vicious war of us against them
Of murder, rape, and pillage
Of self-hate, self-violence, and self-deprivation
What if we could stop the vicious thoughts about ourselves
And one another
What if we could see my stings are your stings
And the bees are simply saying wake up
Pinching us from a deep dark disconnected sleep
What if we could all take away the mighty charge
Of me against them
And them against me
We are not that different
We are not that different
Me and you
We all carry the same sting of the bees
In our tender, tender, hearts
In our tender, tender hearts.
