We Pull

You push.
I push.
We pull.

Division among conquerors,
Struggle to maintain.
Avoiding, afraid, of a life so mundane.

What if the world gathered
in connected places.
The peoples of so many different races.

A life less ordinary
is that for which we strive.
A new beginning to a different life.

With love and compassion,
we could be different.
Together, we could be magnificent.

We strive. We thrive. We cry.
Afraid, so very fearful.
To not taste that rain, would be tearful.

Given an opportunity,
so different from anything else.
We approach quietly, long limbed, with stealth.

With caution and even timidity,
Our hearts soar out, almost against our will.
We ask, “Why?!?… Are these for me?” My feet planted, my heart can’t stay still.

So many lives and souls
left to reach.
Our world needs us. They need what we teach.

Can we hold hands,
even if it makes so very little sense.
Can we work together to build love with our essence?

Can we stand tall,
despite all the things that say we shouldn’t?
Should we push, pull, and listen? Loving what we wouldn’t.

A newest beginning
after facing a fall.
Can we grab a new ring, not the brass one at all.

Can we see beyond
our pain and anger?
Can we see the familiar in the heart of a stranger?

How are we different
from others we’ve seen.
This is like being crushed in worlds between.

None of it has
even the slightest lick of logic,
No matter how many Is we dotted and Ts we crossed.

Yet here we as a 3D triangle
we stand,
Alone and yet hand in hand in hand.

About Ann Townsend

Ann is a published author, speaker, and LGBTQ youth advocate; and has been a professional web application developer since 1997. She holds a medical A.S.; a B.S. in Management with an Emphasis on Computer Science, Minor in Psychology; and a M.S., MBA with an Emphasis on Management of Information Systems. She is the recipient of multiple awards of recognition and is currently pursuing her PhD in Media Psychology. She is currently a senior lead application developer in municipal government and the CTO of SSCodeWorks, LLC, developing applications for government synergy and geo-services apps for serious and recreational location-based mineral propecting. Prior to working for a municipal government agency, she was the majority owner of two small businesses, including Gold Core Networks (GCN), a general partnership. Until 2013, GCN provided internet web hosting and web application development, servicing the Central Valley and multiple U.S. corporations. GCN contracts included a two year contract with the fourth largest school district in California, assisting in the implementation and augmentation of their accounting web application. She was also CEO and chief developer for Midas Accounting Packages, Inc., a niche-market, diverse, ahead-of-its-time tech start up with the primary product of an adaptable, multi-industry accounting web application. In 2007, Ann was hired by a municipal government agency as one of two implementation and 24/7 support personnel for its accounting web application and developer of multiple interfaces between disparate financial applications and systems across 13 departments. Since 2012, Ann has been the lead custom mobile and web application developer. With her current employer, she has developed and/or maintains 13 custom, in-production mobile and web applications, including an application to digitize, collect, track, and report on property base-year values; and a budget application to digitize, collect, track, and transparently report, enumerate, and document budgeted IT charges for all departments. A recent project was for human resources from position request by a department through employee separation.