Category: Poetry

Can I shine a light Even though I am white? When a black boy takes flight Do I lynch him with my might? # No, my lynching is an act of silence My privilege generates colonial violence # Violation at 1 AM That car’s too nice for him Pulled over, searched, it’s a sin Humiliated […]

“She falls apart” her mother declared. “A strong name for a woman who shall move away. Her lover takes her out of the pow wow, Yet she perseveres,” the prophetic voice trails away. # No matter the distance traveled, far or near, Nazuzuwin’s wholeness comes through the gather-round. Her ancestors dwell with her mother there, […]

No dwelling is permanent Nor should it be so. The World Trade tipi Did let us know. Lodge poles come unbound Skins and canvas rolled around. # Elegant monuments inferior, Sun, wind and wave assault, Breaking up our ideals, The Spirit weeps at the tumult, Fine dust blows in a cloud Coating the lungs like […]

Broken, during my first decade I’ve always been broken, really Shattered vestiges of mind and emotion Twisted, wrecked ideals of heroism Torn, the gauze of core beliefs # Lost and losing, my third decade I’ve always been losing and lost, Wandering the unexplored and uncharted The path of the less chosen pursued at cost Cain […]

I cannot see Yemen, Calcutta, or Darfur; do these exist? Drones and cholera freely devour; famine and Death are loose in the world. What four are these? Why does no one care to act on behalf of the trodden masses? Am I delighted to see God’s Will decimate humanity and the planet? Who will go […]

We approach life in some fearless way. But it’s a lie, we tell ourselves. Our hearts are full of fear, worry. Laying bare our souls, what do we see? A vulnerable child, lost and looking for a parent. # Alone we enter with tears and crying. Alone we leave without a scrap. In between we […]

Science cannot define truth. Neither can you; nor does it belong to me. What if we disagree? Can it not remain a mystery? # Morality dwells within. Laws do not mandate; dogma cannot make it. It’s not absolute, Beyond ability to refute. # Life’s enigma – fate and fiat. A destructive, hateful place of absolutes, […]

I slept safe last night I ate a meal today My life was not a fight I didn’t need to runaway # The sidewalk became my bed Hunger found me longing Fate shook me in the head Now only on the streets belonging # Fear grips us all in the dark Our abusers at our […]

Fierce gentleness swept past me one winter day, Beautiful, true, yet her nobility unfathomed. That goddess brushed past in a warrior way, Her coiffed wildness had quelled many a wasteland. # I pursued her down the path to a clearing Ignoring her bow and quiver, toward her horse, “Would you dine with me?” my voice […]