|
Nostalgia
If
she could
she would
return to innocence
before she understood
her people
were America’s Cinderella.
Satan’s footstool.
Boats. Blood. Whips. Broken Bones.
Such foolish notions
never played hopscotch
in her little girl mind,
dreaming bumble bees.
Stringing June bugs.
Teasing spider webs.
Running through country cornfields.
Such a skinny child;
counting pinpoints of stars
beyond her raggedy window screen.
Loving thunder, bright flashes
of pink and lavender light.
Can you see her?
Can you still see her
standing at her momma’s knees?
Turning pages.
Turning pages.
Pharoah. Moses. Elijah. John. Jesus.
Even lions were her friends.
* *
* * *
Mystic
(For Howard Thurman’s Grandmother)
Bruised. Battered. Betrayed.
Jesus and The Disinherited
showed up before midnight’s strike,
carrying buckets of fresh lake trout,
plates of hot buttermilk biscuits,
a lil blackstrap molasses,
cups of sweet tea
and home-made lemonade.
“We came to remind y’all,”
Jesus said.
24
March 2010
Springtime in America
Black lace trees
against cantaloupe sky.
Lazy clouds pile
like lemon meringue pie.
It’s too late for republican signs.
The fire this time burns
beyond our eyes. Kiwi.
We. You and Me. All.
We must no longer bow
and scrape white plates
of hate. Too late for that!
Grab a spade.
Turn some soil.
Put on a new hat.
Gil-Scott’s back.
Blue seas a’ trembling.
Trumpets sound within our souls.
We. You and Me.
We ain’t got
long to stay here.
26 March 2010
Holy
Summit
(After Tavis and 'em)
Less than
a perfect union,
America will always be.
Still. I, born in Virginia,
reserve a right to see
with more than two eyes.
You, gathered at your table.
Do not speak for me!
Yours is not The Last Supper
28 March 2010
* *
* * *
Possessed
Hutaree hold onto hate,
homemade bombs
in the name of Christ,
Jesus who wept.
Kept sorry between
Him and His Father,
did not bother to scold
Pilate, neither his friends,
cousins or brothers.
Jesus, whose bloody
tears trickled in silence.
Jesus, who even now
forgives would-be
murderers who know
what they do.
28 March 2010 |
