Sometimes the contrast of life and death

Evil and good

Defies imagining

burrows deeply

Becomes a primary pain predicament

A chronic illness of despair

I have seen and been

to the trapped and nullified stasis chamber

life becomes

anger turned inward and trapped

paralyzed

Yet this I recollect

and reel back to mind

God’s healing is hard wired into us

at the sub-cellular level

at the speed faster than thought

the speed of feeling

we are healed

forgiven

set free

to create beauty again

and

weep

for the nullified

trapped

world we are become

free to reel some hope into every closed

and bitter room we stagger through

that healing

invisible as the air we breathe

though we reject and decimate her

possibilities

has already called us home

Little ones/
You may dream them/
and must/
but do not live in your dreams/
nor bitterly rue the day/
nor frighten for the night/
some sliver of light will be there to follow/
some arms to help you waken/
and sleep peacefully again/
just realize/
dreams fuel/
your journey/
for which you must arise

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Little ones/

You may dream them/

and must/

but do not live in your dreams/

nor bitterly rue the day/

nor frighten for the night/

some sliver of light will be there to follow/

some arms to help you waken/

and sleep peacefully again/

just realize/

dreams fuel/

your journey/

for which you must arise

He Was A MAn

One couldn’t exactly say that/ Daddy was a man of peace/ But I think he was tired and weary/ of fighting for his humanity/ as a Black man/ he retired to defend his house and land/ wife and children/ having seen the world by boat/ the last movie he ever saw was the day/ President Kennedy was killed/ it was announced in the theater/ he took his small daughter home/ and refused to see another movie/…

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He Was A Man

http://IMG_20150725_185739117_HDR One couldn’t exactly say that/ Daddy was a man of peace/ But I think he was tired and weary/ of fighting for his humanity/ as a Black man/ he retired to defend his house and land/ wife and children/ having seen the world by boat/ the last movie he ever saw was the day/ President Kennedy was killed/ it was announced in the theater/ he took his small daughter home/…

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One couldn’t exactly say that/

Daddy was a man of peace/

But I think he was tired and weary/

of fighting for his humanity/

as a Black man/

he retired to defend his house and land/

wife and children/

having seen the world by boat/

the last movie he ever saw was the day/

President Kennedy was killed/

it was announced in the theater/

he took his small daughter home/

and refused to see another movie/

never went to restaurants/

sat by the window on the porch with a bat by the door/

and defended the neighborhood/

I watched him shout at some guys carrying a TV looking odd/

they had robbed an apartment/

dropped the set and ran/

he saved some things/

he may have saved some lives/

but he was tired/

weary of defending his humanity/

and sad/

always sad/

The Jordan River/ Chilly and Cold/ Chills the body/ But not the soul/ Our children frightened/ They face consequences/ three strikes you’re out/ yet have to tolerate swallow bow and scrape around/ hatred nullification being cursed and scandalized/ sexualized put down/ locked up/ they are frightened/ stunned/ in danger of abandoning their dreams/ depressed in despair/ while other children get free…

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The Jordan River/

Chilly and Cold/

Chills the body/

But not the soul/

Our children frightened/

They face consequences/

three strikes you’re out/

yet have to tolerate swallow bow and scrape around/

hatred nullification being cursed and scandalized/

sexualized put down/

locked up/

they are frightened/

stunned/

in danger of abandoning their dreams/

depressed in despair/

while other children get free passes for brutal behavior/

grown people threaten my child’s life for being/

let’s face it/

uppity/

and what can we say/

say love/

say truth/

call somebody’s child/

hold them in prayer/

time for the care packages to be/

filled with action/

not mumbling incoherent impotent/

when our ancestor’s sang/

it was a road map to freedom/

not a panacea a paean to inaction/

Jordan River/

Chilly and Cold

Children/

chill the body/

not the soul/

I forget sometimes/
that alongside achingly hard work/
there is beauty/
then I remember stories of my grandmother/
we never met/
except perhaps in the ether/
before and after/
life/
but still/
she taught me strength/
and still/
she teaches/
beauty

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I forget sometimes/

that alongside achingly hard work/

there is beauty/

then I remember stories of my grandmother/

we never met/

except perhaps in the ether/

before and after/

life/

but still/

she taught me strength/

and still/

she teaches/

beauty