R.M. Carlson

lost my faith
my anchor
my purpose
broken
soul stripped bare
aching, grieving
exposed, raw

separated from
hypocrisy
unchained
from that
which I do not believe

just a little pride
peeks through
shoulders back
chin up
time to be me

I am righteous anger
seeking justice
don’t look away
bear witness

children starving
ribs exposed
some kind of twisted
target practice

masked men
unmarked cars
families taken
in the night

homeless removed
nowhere to go
unhoused? a crime
now go to jail

I am love
embrace
the awkward
the shunned
the scapegoats
the hurting
the poor
I care

I am peace
in nature
birds early and late
create melodies
winds sough
branches sway
inchworm inches
reaching, contracting

heart at rest
opening, seeking
I am not broken;
I have broken free
What is belief?
I believe in me

With a B.S. in Communications, R.M. Carlson’s career over the years has covered marketing, public relations, and scientific and research journal management and publishing. As a child, she wrote and illustrated stories and has continued to write as a hobby ever since. Her focus shifted to poetry after taking a college poetry class. Her strong sense of social justice was established early in life by the ideals of her working-class parents, who actively engaged in politics, community, and more. She was raised in a church with progressive values that actively fought for social justice in and outside the local area. R.M. Carlson seeks ways she can make a difference, however small, in the world. Poetry has become her middle finger extended toward fascism.

This poem appeared in What We Hold On To: Poems of Coping, Connection, and Carrying On — Winter 2026, published by The Chaos Section Poetry Project. We’ll be featuring each poem from the collection individually in the weeks ahead. You can read the full collection or download a free PDF of the chapbook here.