Swallow The Contradiction, Katherine
- Katherine Tatsuda
- Jul 31
- 1 min read
July 31, 2026
Every once in a while, my brain says the same thing.
Swallow the contradiction, Katherine.
Swallow the fact that someone who shattered your understanding of honesty still stands in rooms where honesty is discussed.
Swallow the fact that someone who made you rebuild your own reality participates in conversations about ethics, accountability, and public trust.
Swallow it.
Read the documents.
Attend the meetings.
Listen to the conversations.
Keep your face neutral.
Act like your nervous system doesn’t recognize the absurdity before your mind even has words for it.
Some days I can.
Some days I can’t.
There is something uniquely painful about watching two completely different realities occupy the same space.
The public one.
The private one.
The one everyone knows.
The one I lived.
I didn’t create that contradiction.
I just inherited it.
And somehow, I’m the one expected to carry it.
Swallow the contradiction, Katherine.
I've been trying.
I'm just not sure how much longer I can sit quietly.
Maybe next time...
I'll spit instead of swallow.
