I’ve been hearing the word narrative a lot lately. I have one too. When I moved to the States in the mid nineties, I showed up at PDX with a green and black plaid suitcase in hand. Dave Stout, a giant of a man, drove me through the city and to the small townContinue reading “What I’ve Experienced at the Hands of These White People”
Category Archives: Musings
BLAK Lives Matter (Part 4) – Damn, the Bastard Child Shows Up!
This is a raw tribute to lands across the world that have been devastated by colonialism. The bastard has unexpectedly shown up at his dinner table. Bags in hand. He never thought he’d see her again! What sudden discomfiture, what indigestion she causes. She pays no mind to the refined company present. Her strikingContinue reading “BLAK Lives Matter (Part 4) – Damn, the Bastard Child Shows Up!”
BLAK Lives Matter (Part 5) – What Can I Do?
Image retrieved 6/12/2020 from: https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=328642&picture=single-candle-in-dark-background God’s has a disturbing indictment: “I hate, I despise your religious festivals. Your assemblies are a stench to me… away with the noise of your songs…” “This is what the Lord says: “Seek me and live; There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground.Continue reading “BLAK Lives Matter (Part 5) – What Can I Do?”
BLAK Lives Matter (Part 3) – Why Blak, not Black?
Photo retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jun/09/black-lives-matter-protesters-referred-to-our-count-of-432-aboriginal-deaths-in-custody-its-now-437 I visited Australia in 2019. I was thrilled by Aboriginal names of streets, towns, and landmarks: Drik Drik, Warandite, Wagga Wagga, Yarra River, Gooloogong, Bellambi, Murrumburrah, Manganatang. They are so resonant and lyrical that one almost has to assume the grand posture of an orator to pronounce them right. Presently, IContinue reading “BLAK Lives Matter (Part 3) – Why Blak, not Black?”
BLAK Lives Matter (Part 2) – But I hurt, and the Need is so great…
Image retrieved from https://www.wallpaperflare.com/nature-landscape-lake-boat-nautical-vessel-water-transportation-wallpaper-pilip Something interesting happened that intercepted Joshua’s escape to solitude. A crowd heard he was on the lake. They knew the private spot where he was going. And they beat him there. When he landed he saw a large crowd. It was a sea of blak lives. There in their midst, he zoomedContinue reading “BLAK Lives Matter (Part 2) – But I hurt, and the Need is so great…”
BLAK Lives Matter (Part 1) – Off with Their Heads
Image retrieved from: https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=295086&picture=bloody-cloud “They cut off John’s head.” Bart is the deliverer of this horrendous news and he can hardly breath, let alone speak. He is horrified, shocked. There’s no gentle way to drop a hand-grenade. He stumbles out onto the street and leaves a stunned Joshua. It is a senseless killing while inContinue reading “BLAK Lives Matter (Part 1) – Off with Their Heads”
“Something Like That”
My heart goes out to the teenage store clerk who called the cops. It’s not on you. Don’t beat yourself up, kid. We don’t know your name, But you’re alive and well in our hearts. You did the right thing. Tell yourself that a million times. We’re behind you. Do it again next time you needContinue reading ““Something Like That””
Mama, I’m Through!
Image of George Floyd and his mother. She would never dreamed, As she crept up to his crib, As every mama does, To make sure he was breathing. She would never have dreamed, On media live-streamed, That his dying call would be to her, Though long departed. She would never have dreamed, On mediaContinue reading “Mama, I’m Through!”
Knees Bowed
I was confused, by asphalt bruised, As his life oozed, his pleas refused. Now my police bow a knee, My first response says “I disagree – That very posture took a life.” Yet now it somehow calms the strife A soothing balm for grieving souls, Instead of heaping burning coals. I start to perceive aContinue reading “Knees Bowed”
As a Mother of Two Black Men
I beseech you, As a mother of two black men. I want them to live to run in the street, to play a mean guitar stanza and hold a crazy karate stance. To do whatever they were made to do without worrying if they will come home to live some more. They are myContinue reading “As a Mother of Two Black Men”
