Windward Review Volume 19 (2021): Empathy and Entropy

Xander Garcia
My name is Xander Garcia,
and trying to contain my negativity has proven ineffective.
I write because my imagination runs away when it’s neglected.
I love hate and complaints and the shady craft of misdirection.
I love the looming threat of chaos and discontent and insurrection.
It’s difficult not allowing my thoughts to become weapons
And it’s harder on me mentally to arm myself with good intentions.
I’ve been writing since the days I crawled from where the garbage gets
collected.
In the wake of my tears
I carry these reminders of what I’ve done around with me, for
better or worse
I keep a list of what I’ve lost, but I can’t remember where it is.
You keep these reminders at the bottom of a well and shove the
rest into the limelight.
It’s not a winning combination, but it’s worth the attempt.
What else is there to do?
I’ve met a man who has never tried.
Not bad company, for a statue.
Can we lift our legs out of the ground and make something from
this shred of undocumented history?
We can agree to change and to keep reminders and to lose, and to
try and do anything but stand still.
It’s the everyday lessons
Learning isn’t a smooth drive down a road with no potholes.
It’s more like a brick wall that you have to crash into again and again until it no
longer feels like a brick wall.
Learning is an entire process that you have to take apart and put back together
piece by piece.
It’s frustrating and tedious at best, and a dead end at its worst. Some people
find it easy, while others never learn.
I still don’t know which pile I fall into.
The realization will come with patience and attention to detail.
Learning is watching and waiting for the world to make sense.
Windward Review: Vol. 19
168