Exile
they suffer
and I am far away
mandated to stay
here;
it's clear
nothing to do but pray
but oh
how my soul
wants to be close
not disconnected
ejected
into a down-spiral
of doubt, denial,
unable to be
where bees sow
the blossom
buzzing in assigned roles
"the Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want"
and "want" I do
so therefore
have been exiled
to let go
one day at a time
get aligned
to what is right
be peace
not bring ANYTHING
not wanting
to be helpful,
hopeful, healing...
but here, in exile
a want persists:
i may return
one day
after I've bone-level learned
from so far away.
they suffer
and I am far away
mandated to stay
here;
it's clear
nothing to do but pray
but oh
how my soul
wants to be close
not disconnected
ejected
into a down-spiral
of doubt, denial,
unable to be
where bees sow
the blossom
buzzing in assigned roles
"the Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want"
and "want" I do
so therefore
have been exiled
to let go
one day at a time
get aligned
to what is right
be peace
not bring ANYTHING
not wanting
to be helpful,
hopeful, healing...
but here, in exile
a want persists:
i may return
one day
after I've bone-level learned
from so far away.
Hurricane Ida
Chicago
mid day
outside
windy blue-sky day...
but
down south
N' Orleans way
cat four
breaks doors
sinks tower;
downs power;
loves
threatened from above;
so we pray
for those who evacuate,
who stay,
those here
on this wedding day
of love fused
kick-ass tunes
friendship
family,
forgiveness ooze;
next day,
Chicago scene
hung over
to varied degrees
of necessity
oblivious
to the pain
of the furious
Delta hurricane,
perhaps the cosmic cost
of lives
love lost
to reap, mill
sugar cane,
and fill
north-bound
migration trains
visceral need
to leave
compelled
to dwell
in Chicago’s
red-lined cells
by a hurricane
of another name.
Chicago
mid day
outside
windy blue-sky day...
but
down south
N' Orleans way
cat four
breaks doors
sinks tower;
downs power;
loves
threatened from above;
so we pray
for those who evacuate,
who stay,
those here
on this wedding day
of love fused
kick-ass tunes
friendship
family,
forgiveness ooze;
next day,
Chicago scene
hung over
to varied degrees
of necessity
oblivious
to the pain
of the furious
Delta hurricane,
perhaps the cosmic cost
of lives
love lost
to reap, mill
sugar cane,
and fill
north-bound
migration trains
visceral need
to leave
compelled
to dwell
in Chicago’s
red-lined cells
by a hurricane
of another name.
|
New Orleans
this city is not loving is a mean-stealing mama who lies, jails, is jealous, furious sulks, hurts, spews dirt; brews beaucoup bucks sucked into cracks and crevices with buried bodies burst pipes, broken, bruised streets few speak lest tourists flee; and damn good people, God's people are damn tired as solutions swirl non-profits birth prayers said hearts bled and the water rises the ground sinks trash stinks choir can't sing everything's bogged sogged no altar or cool pool just darkness, damp incense, unwritten shifting laws, rickety walls; the high priest can't bless for too much religion the people can't go up or out too much restriction the Spirit can't speak or be heard too much commotion. Father God are we in the belly of the whale? hear this wail and spit us OUT! |
Not Nice
He boldly told me as we walked past one another "I'm not nice" and I put away my "I see you" smile and took him seriously by the lavender house where our drummer neighbor was murdered one morning by a different black man; my friend was raised near Shreveport her grandparents died when the town's white folks put a match to their house (they were inside); so "not nice" was kind to warn me of the beasts he walked with that day carried forward in his DNA. |
Clean Up
raw meat roasts under the sun in garbage bins trucks come move trash away residue remains stings eyes brings flies communities rise work to cleanse, clean neighbor finds a power-pressure sprayer machine lines up nine black bins bleach-water-filled to the brim all night by moonlight; morning tipped on the street stinking concrete redeemed, to consecrate circulate with Baking Soda, final coda, proud of warm, restored sun-softened black plastic; last lid double take... pure, fresh, excrement must have happened this morning don't want to see don't want to tell don't want that smell stuck in nostrils, that smell, residue of hate, someone chose to retaliate keep minds stuck in "what the fuck?" keep city stuck in pre-hurricane muck. |
|
Risen
risen beyond my Spirit's capacity to see once upon a time we were in tune but you've moved out of my league and it feels like the deepest loss of my life deeper than your dad's passing; and you radiate; for three years since the injury I believed I had failed to protect you but now I see you are protected by all this, from me, from who you used to be re-birthed by what seemed a tragedy into a new, true identity. |
non binary
they/them disorients disrupts my conception of beloved God gave life to through me; yet honestly this happened once before; when their heart beat a fast-train roar so different than their sister's steady pulse; was told this new wild child would be a boy- surprised when emerged - a she; so it seems written she-he tension need for liberation from gender denomination has grown on me - now ill at ease with "she" |
|
Knives and Spoons
Freddy and Alma two spoons snuggle, protect big connect: Freddy and me arm over body butt backed into crotch safety; Alma and me widows we shared and laughed about how God was getting us to eat the last slices of a loaf. Richard and Ray two knives to save my life cut through expose truth that hurts, heals, peels back skin I don't know I'm in. |
Crossing
hooked by the certainty of your PRESENCE after a "Red Sea" led to belief then 38 years wandering encountering not sedating doubts, fears, hates, old ideas a life-filled desert to prepare; through You, in You i’ve prayed loved given birth raised children praised worked seen Freddy through to You, moved, surrendered one day a time perfectly imperfectly thousands millions of times you have lovingly said "Pay attention to me" heard aha in sacred pause or Big Book smacks, Biblical laws painful life whacks; and now, Lord, you break off this twig to be taken cross the Jordan enter the land you've chosen where disbelief, is ready to reap and I am ready to give say yes, live to listen be guided to leave pride submerged under river's body to widen tribe, the mystical body to further spread therein your vine from this twig-weak but not weary woman now graced by you with a spiritual spine. |
After Ida
after-the-storm
we transform:
watch Resilience
whip up,
dish out
for-free delicious
sense Compassion
cell-listen
four hours
sister closet-bound
midst crashing;
witness Honor
open door
to parents
whose home was blown
walls thrown
and welcome
the yappy dog;
listen to Tenderness
as he reads
a picture book
crouched on the curb
with a distracted daughter
watch Justice
advocate
never hesitate
to agitate
for the voiceless,
the forgotten:
"ice coming your way!"
feel Love
as He winds
finds
the lost sheep
tenderly or abruptly reaps
as needs be,
the divine choreographer
who never sleeps.
after-the-storm
we transform:
watch Resilience
whip up,
dish out
for-free delicious
sense Compassion
cell-listen
four hours
sister closet-bound
midst crashing;
witness Honor
open door
to parents
whose home was blown
walls thrown
and welcome
the yappy dog;
listen to Tenderness
as he reads
a picture book
crouched on the curb
with a distracted daughter
watch Justice
advocate
never hesitate
to agitate
for the voiceless,
the forgotten:
"ice coming your way!"
feel Love
as He winds
finds
the lost sheep
tenderly or abruptly reaps
as needs be,
the divine choreographer
who never sleeps.