My alarm goes off

The sweet sound of the ukulele jingle wakes me from my slumber

As I embrace my gray plush blanket,

I hit ‘dismiss’ and consider remaining in the warm, cozy fuzz of blissful sleep

I reach over to turn on my water boiler and quickly return my arm back to the security of my blanket

The water hisses to protest its wake up call

I guess I could say that we are one and the same

I watch the ring of blue lights illuminate the perimeter of the base and

Let it hypnotize me into a soft, dreamy daze

Before long, my eyes close and I enter dreamy state of resistance

For a moment it feels as if I will never leave the confines of my bed

Suddenly, the water becomes quiet

Blue tides begin to form and jump about

I open my eyes and watch the water release bubbles of a new-found energy

My arm reaches over to flick the illuminated switch off

The water darkens and continues to sway back and forth with gentle vigor

As I allow my eyes to follow the tides,

I feel a dynamic force build inside of me that makes it impossible to fully enjoy the blissfulness of my bed anymore

And with that, I flick my blanket off my brown body and swivel my legs around to reach the floor

I am groggy, but awake

I assemble my tea and watch the leaves stain the water a murky brown

While waiting for the tea to cool, I reflect on the craziness I am about to enter

Discrimination, hatred, prejudice, violence, poverty – you name it.

They all taint our world and turn what was once pure and transparent into a dark mess that makes it difficult to tell what was once there

I begin to get impatient and blow on the surface so I can drink without burning myself 

While doing so, I peak inside my mug and realize that a just few minutes ago I had clear water inside that very cup. 

I inhale deeply, and take a sip of the dark brew

I grin. There is a lot of work to do.