Poem: "Despareality" by Tanner Reiss

Despareality
by Tanner Reiss

I am crying. It breaks my heart knowing
That while I sit in my room
There is someone somewhere
Feeling useless and powerless
Consumed by their demons
Thinkin’ death is the only means
To an exorcism.

I swear, I am sick of this racism
And the mental health system
Is a joke in this province.
Not the kind that’s light-hearted and funny
It’s the kind that’ll take a life in a hurry
My mind is in a furry knowing
Somewhere someone’s vision is blurry
From the pills they popped.
The pain in someone’s wrists
They could not resist.

I will not say a name, I will not pass shame
Because I know the government
And their budget is to blame for this tragedy.
Money hungry power freaks
That are too high and mighty
To hear the dying cries of Indigenous
Youth all across this country.
It’s a national epidemic
And I prey I will not be caught in it.

I don’t wanna be pulled under
Or succumb to that monster
But until they cease this financial rape
There is no escape.
I want us to be free
But they don’t care about us or me
Just keep us locked away in a prison cell
Walkin’ thru their systemic hell.
Deaf ears do not hear our cries
Blind eyes miss our missing wives.

I am crying. It breaks my heart knowing
The only reason someone somewhere is alive
Is the front door opening and closing
And they are no longer alone –
Their little sister – I’ll call her Salone –
Has come home from school
And they can’t handle hearing her cry
So, through teary eyes they connect to the hotline
1-800-273-8255
Pouring their heart out
To someone they can’t even see.

“Man, just yesterday my best friend Creedence
Got his ass kicked for doing a Cree dance
Then arrested for filing a grievance.
I mean, since when does reporting a crime
Come with the threat of doing time?
The only reason he was dancing
Is because his only sister is missing
And he’s trying to get the attention of a nation
But the government won’t listen
Says she’s just another addition to this country’s
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
But he knows she’s more than
A number on a Stat-Can sheet
Or a drum beat in Canada’s New National Anthem.”

I don’t want to be pulled under
Or succumb to that monster
But until they cease this sacrificial rape
There is no escape.
I want us to be free,
But the government don’t care about us or me
Just keep us locked away in a prison cell
Walkin’ thru their systemic hell.
Deaf ears do not hear our cries
Blind eyes miss our missing wives.

I swear, I am sick of this governance
Hearing the endless silence
When the problem is so glaringly obvious
Two hundred fifteen has become
Five thousand, two hundred ninety-six
But a concert of crickets would
Sell more tickets!
Thinking about how little Parliament
Cares about Canada’s Indigenous.
I don’t know why it started
Or what it will take to change it
But something has to be done
Because our desecration is still young
And getting worse by the second
With every life still unfound
That can’t be resurrected.

Perhaps all our souls, in a mirror
Should be painfully inspected
Until our eyes drown in tears
Perhaps that will clear our vision?
Rain disguises the tears
Tears clear the vision of this mission
But only if someone somewhere cares to listen!

Aug. 31st, 2021