Category Archives: POETRY

AGING SPACES

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Somewhere along the way

the package I carried has been mislaid.

Since I did not notice it missing until today

its importance has made little impact, I’d say.

The years rolled by day-after-day.

space where the package once stayed

grew dusty with age.

Until the day, where nothing could stop the rage

of loneliness filling page-after-page;

searching for communion with those not my age.

Old connections are no longer stable and sure

as death knocks at too many old friends’ doors.

That space covered in dust reminds me anew

of those friends I mislaid as loneliness grew.

Seeking youth and more life is nothing new.

But, I know this to be true.

Old friends can never be replaced.

Their faces remain. They occupy my space.

Their love for me is my only pride.

Dead or alive they fill every space inside

where memory and love will always abide.

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MY KNEES HURT

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My skin is now too thin.
it cracks on my feet and bleeds 

from pressure rising inside damaged knees,

throwing legs into a spin

and buckling under the strain

threatening falls again and again.

I hold on with tightened fists

gathered by my side, mislaid

and held in check, afraid

of striking out instead of balancing

against the forces dragging me down.

My body mimics my emotional gown

caught against my legs by autocratic winds

that bind my forward motion,

strangling reality and truthful notions,

knocking my legs out from under me,

demeaning my humanity

with white supremacy.

All I know is how hard it is to stand;

but, how necessary it is in order to outrun

the gerrymandering brigands

who would see democracy undone.

So, on my leg I place a brace

to hold my leg steady

while I rest upon the couch,

heal and make certain I am ready

when it is time to vote hate out.

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BAKE BROWNIES

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Life got you down?

Bake brownies.

Feeling all alone?

Bake brownies.

Knees buckling from the strain?
Bake brownies.

Tired of all the heat and rain?
Bake brownies.

No solutions to be found?

Bake brownies.

Sighing  with a tired smile?

Bake brownies.

Ready to rest for just awhile?
Bake brownies.

Need to set guilt aside?

Bake brownies.

Need a place to hide?
Bake brownies.

Want to quiet the voice in your head?

Bake brownies.

Taking a break from all you dread?

Bake brownies.

Tomorrow is another day.

Today, bake brownies.

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COLOR BLIND JUSTICE

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A loose grip is also confining;

its implied threat still real.

Shackles are not needed

to confine the body and the soul.

Only part of the story is told by polls.

The majority of Americans 

would see us all free.

One grip, by one arm,

one threatening voice to hold me down

for simply being Black or Brown;

for gender choice, or a soft woman’s voice

the gripping fear of one can drown

an entire nation. 

And, bring it to its knees

along with those like me.

The gun held against the spine from behind

is just as confining as the chains of slavery.

The raised fist, laws on the books

to force a life-threatening pregnancy

are equally destructive to me.

It has never been about the numbers

the justices rulings proclaim,

when the majority would see us free.

It is about the fawning few who reek of power,

wealth and greed and seek to control

the likes of you and me.

Blindness is a convenient tool

of those who refuse to see

threats now made so openly,

on the streets and airwaves, 

on social media, in open courts

and at political rallies.

The narrative of the fascists of old

has not grown cold over the centuries.

It has grown hotter, and now is so bold

even judges blindly embrace its hold.

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REVERBERATION

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The persistence of slavery,

Jim Crow, and voter suppression

is not a reflection.

It is a reverberation,

the persistence of dehumanization,

after it has been stopped by legislation.

It  bounces in a steady beat

from the surface of sexist, racists in defeat

within the closed surface of a court

reflecting the beliefs of the sort

of persons who know better but insist

that white male supremacy must persist.

This is not a new phenomenon.

It is the echo of a time long gone.

And yet its power is amplified

within the power structure which has denied

the rights of people to be free

of such discriminatory ignominy.

We cannot dance to this tune of hate.

Such evil we must abate

by refusing to allow the many incidents

of courts refusing to follow precedent,

which bend the arc of justice so low

we begin to ask them all to go

back to the rock they crawled out from under

before they tear the nation asunder.

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POLLYANNA

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Pollyanna is misunderstood.

She does not smile because 

her world is perfect.

She smiles because 

nothing is.

No disappointment finds its way

to destroy her imperfectly happy day.

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GOOD MOURNING

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Morning, hidden by smoke haze, weakens resolve

after sins no dreams could resolve.

An anger so deep and profound,

the pain of our loss deadens the sound

of hurt and betrayal in silence, tightly bound.

Anger and fear choke the woke

whose only sin is that truth should abound

and evil be run to the ground,

and that love can be felt all around;

that every child can live in hope

in a country where fear has been defeated

and guns are no longer needed

to feel safe

on this morning,

in this space

where I wake mourning.

I wake. I am woke.

I keep moving

to a place where we

shall overcome

again

and again

and again.

Good Mourning !

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THE END OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

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Back to running the race barefoot

across dank and dirty streets

covered in the broken glass of misery

and dreams untold, unable to unfold

the promise of equality

between the shoeless forgotten humanity

and the well-shod, well-trained, well-fed

and well-funded runners 

placed feet ahead of the starting line.

The Supreme Court handles the gun

announcing the start of the run.

The race has always been fixed by race

to keep everyone in their place.

The lies continue to run free,

and destroy our dream of equality.

Turning back the race clock follows 

turning back the women’s clock

denying opportunity to overcome

the way the race has always been run.

We are in a race for our lives.

None of us should be surprised.

So, still I run. Still, I run.

Still, I run.

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THE SWEET LIFE

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The bees have memorized my face.

They gracefully recognize my place

in the garden, stretching and bending low

to deadhead and weed the beds

of the flowers we grow,

that they may feast on nectar so sweet.

Dusted by pollen which flavors our honey,

the bees and I manufacture joy and delight

that melts on the tongue and lights the eye.

Laborers together, in our garden, the bees and I.

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TITAN

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How far up and how far down

do we measure courage so profound

that lives are turned upside-down?

Perhaps we are meant stay on the surface

held by the gravity.

Shallow lives can ease our way

but they do not deepen understanding,

if lived day-by-day being afraid

to take deep dives to understanding

all the forces at play.

Were we made to stay in the light

and never explore the darker side?

Even plants begin as seeds

buried in darkness as if asleep.

Mysteries are stored and buried deep.

Must every mystery be solved

and every risk taken

that we may never be mistaken?

Those who brave such deep thoughts

or climb steep cliffs to greater heights

give the rest of us time to discover our fright

of what and who are unknown,

questioning the safety of such insanity,

questioning our own inane humanity.

Why do we go where none have gone before?

Why do we wonder “what for ?”

Like seeds we reach higher as we aspire

to see the light and know much more

as we deepen the roots to explore

all that has been and could be still

in unsafe places where we could be killed.

It is the very core of our folklore

that we were meant to challenge and explore.

And still, I mourn.

And still, I mourn.

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