Reimagining Public Safety

What is public safety?
Not mandated medicine.
Not racist policing.
What is public safety?
I only know that it must come
from community, and love.
What makes me safe,
seems at odds, these days,
with what makes my neighbor safe.

I don’t begrudge what she needs,
until what she needs from me,
rips away my safety.
I need to keep shining
in the presence of those
who fear I am unsafe.
If my health decision scares you,
if social spurning frightens me— we
must reimagine

the very shape of public safety.
Some folks fear havoc
should we defund Police,
but what is public safety, what?
Social agreement to protect
everyone. Every one.
Let’s dismantle false divides.
We’ll find a way, if we keep seeking,
to protection that’s collective.

©Susa Silvermarie 2021