The Poetry Marathon

Spend your whole life an Other

until the Other becomes the trend

now they want our story

when theirs can’t match

and why would they want it anyway

oh wait.
they always have

because our strength frightens them

and weakens them more

wouldn’t trade a day in this skin for the “privilege” of “normalcy”

Not now or before

This time it was easy

let the flow come through in easy motion

sometimes words fail me

this time they danced off my fingers like they were slipping into a warm bath

I love these times

finding powers in the distillation of time and energy meaning and purpose

its okay if no one reads them but me these words delight me in hindsight

Floating downstream through glimpses of my mind I had simply let go of

who wrote that?
me?
when?

huh?

sometimes it’s the prompt most of the time it’s the moment

stepping behind the curtain just offstage to write one

jumping back to finish the set

was that when I wrote that one?

ah so so much fun!

blessed are the times when the world shrinks even smaller than it  seemed to let us meet somewhere between reality and dreams

sharing thoughts and spirit with the ghosts of freedom and form

see you again next year…

the pages more weathered and the “souls” of my boots more worn

Bless the flow

So all of that was for this?
and none of that will help this other than to remind me how far this can go

how deep the well of societal dysfunction is and find ways to mitigate more dis-ease

my people are working, tied at the knees with everything we’ve got

to hold eachother close

raise our babies with love and give medicine to the people

be it in song or something to soothe the aches

we didn’t come for the dole, or the unemployment line

we came because spirit brought us here and wanted us to stay

But somehow our bodies mean nothing and out babies are prey

how could you take a mama’s baby away?

what makes you think you know

what they need or what we know?

give my sister back to me

Sing awake the day

For the only reason to breathe is between your rib cage and your wings

Spread them
Stretch into the beautiful day

Old wounds and tight constriction released as beauty opens to the way

new truths expand and  release

Catch em!!

Morning at the Eastern Gate

a symphony of song and sweet

Roosters crow in the distance behind the gentle dee dee of that my favorite little bird

lovesongs to the sun

it’s the crows who take great care to break the gentle din— summoning me from slumber

Wake UP

Wake UP it’s today!
and my mind and body say…

sleep

sleep some more there is lots in the day where the sun already shines on the other side of lids you should let close

Sleep is love

I haven’t changed much in all this life

holding firm to who I knew I could be within the confines of disparate contrast

no  I didn’t care then and I don’t care now

what they want me to be not what they think I am

yet somewhere in the mix it feels good to be seen

felt

and cherished

worship is a slippery slope and I have watched too many kneel adult the feet of false idols to be wowed by the glitter

consider me

consider how it feels to be so completely you that the fucks you give left before I got here

what does my opinion matter anyway?
I’ll keep holding this line and walking nimbly as I can

although I’ve been stumbling along the brambles never knowing the scorched pathways

How did I get here?

When they bowed their heads in fear of being found out…

i kept talking

when they closed their eyes to ignore what I showed them…

I held it closer

when my tears were too salty…

I let them flow faster

it feels good to quench stale old fears and cleanse long tender wounds with more than a few tears—let them drop  when they well up, she said

let

them

fall…

and I’ll keep saying it

There’s laughter on the other side

four am just after the full moon turned to wane

somewhere Before the dawn where sleep should be full With dreams awake and travels sweet

Waiting is never fun and when your heart walks outside of you the wait is even longer

sniffs at the door show signs of return  for a dog knows his person and feels them close

I’ve done this before

sat up wondering

praying the door swings open soon

how many times did I wait in his room?

a mother’s lament is never over and the blessings aren’t either

wait with patience and worry won’t darken the path

Time travels through space In every way they want us to miss

Miss the train

miss Those who never left

misappropriate the moment or an intention

what is the point?
of spinning in or out when it’s all in every now?

because I thought it today doesn’t mean tomorrow it’s real

or saw it in the future and believed it now

what is it about time that has us all so enslaved?
listen the boss do what you’re told

fill up with nothings in the way to getting old

get on code or stay out of the fold

this moment is now and the next is now too

just because I said it doesn’t mean it’s true

fresh

white

lots of light

someone famous slept here

Or thats what they said

if thats the case how old is this bed?

Here lies the body of another one gone

sent to the edges where the riches meet the lawn

who might sleep here tonite?

stories of revivals and new scenes alight

but somehow something just doesn’t feel right

Too crisp

too clean

Something murky in all the glean

honey let’s go home

I miss the City in all it’s real

something doesn’t feel

right here

no one knows who’s been that mirror

Nobody lives here anymore

tell that agent we’ve changed our minds

what did we come here for?

that house on the hill with the torn up blinds won’t look good like this

even in our minds

How about let’s not be part of the gentrifying times