Welcome to this space where
Inaction leads to the
Difference in sentience
Of what it takes
Is it just our burden to bear?
Already an achievement
When those
Doing the bare minimum of
sensibility
awareness
criticism
Reflection
Get credit
Expression of fragility
Why are we upholding
Impossible standards to ourselves
To our queerness to our feminism
To our moral and political race
But excuse the bare
Don’t take it personal
Don’t make it about you
They are trying to give their best
The bare excuse.
When it leads to 24
When it leads to
Disempowerment
And disembodiment
But who are you
When there’s all to mend
And when I listen into myself
The wound is still there
But it is not as sharp
And my mind not as
dark
Anymore.
And now relationships like these
Feel like the best possible excuse
In a world so confusing
When will it be seen?
Author Biography
Lena Schroeder (she/her) is a master’s student in North American Studies at the Philosophische Fakultät of Leibniz Universität Hannover (LUH). She changed disciplines after completing her bachelor’s degree at the University of Bremen, transitioning from Sociology to Literature to concentrate more on gender, queer, and postcolonial studies. Her poem “the bare minimum” was composed and submitted in the Independent Studies class “Poetry Workshop,” instructed by Abigail Fagan.
Copyright (c) 2024 Lena Schroeder.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
