Heart of the Garden

This is how I told my twelve year old daughter that Trump is now her president:

A lot of people voted for Donald Trump. A lot of them were told that he would make the country more secure and make gas cheaper and keep people from coming into the country. He made up stories about them committing crimes and people believed him. They were willing to ignore his racism and his selfishness and greediness because they think he will make things better and give them $1,000. Your grandparents voted for him. And they are not bad people. They just care about the things they were told he would make more secure. They believed him when he said they should be scared of anyone who wasn’t a member of their tribe. You’re safe.

Nothing will affect you for now. You’re safe.

There is a lot of resistance that will build up to work against all the mean things he says and all the destructive things that he stands for and that’s what we will put our energy and thought into.

He is just a symbol like a flag that represents something brutish and selfish. He doesn’t like working. He won’t actually do any work. He will play golf the whole time. You’re safe.

You’re safe as long as democracy and justice hold. And the idea of this country and the things that unite us with truth and justice and all the things we sang about in elementary school aren’t torn to shreds, you’re safe.

We will be like nasturtium leaves, little nasties. Everything pools up on their hydrophobic surface and turns into mercury and slides off into oblivion. I will fight the urge to bury myself in the compost. I will connect with the roots around me and work on the groundswell. And be one of the millions of root pushers popping the tectonic plates to heave up new land washed by a wave that will flood this country from sea to shining sea.