UnSEE

object, 

to the 

infringement made upon

the civil rights of BLACK

LIVES that MATTER as much as my own.

“We the People of the United States of America” … establish Justice … 

Oh, really? Justice for who? Oh, you mean those Americans whose skin tone matches the parchment paper those words were written … 

Did you know it’s been two centuries since a fountain pen inked the U.S. Constitution into existence? And in that time, the document has only been amended 27 times, in seventy-three thousand days.

That’s approximately once every seven years, the same for the human body to change. I guess you could say we’re overdue for an amendment to update the U.S. Constitution, one that reflects the modern day and its current population including the 42 million humans of color residing on this United States of America land. 

This is not a rant, it’s an awakening. My fellow Americans, it’s a call to action to rise from your stupor, I mean slumber, to stand up from your couches, to reach for something 

Other than the remote. You can no longer avert your eyes from the zombie apocalypse, that is YOU in the mirror 

Not some character dressed up in a costume waiting for direction. Look closer: 

Beyond the skin and bones to your soul 

It feels a bit uncomfortable: 

Once you start, 

to see,  

You can’t 

Unsee. 

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in remembrance

Most days are filled with something, 

but today I am struggling.
You never know what will affect you, nor how it will,
until it affects you.

experience a loss of life,
a very long well-lived life;
and then remember that life on the first day of spring.

thoughts are like dandelions
seeding one memory and then another
stirring a pot that has finally settled

people grieve in so many different ways
judgment solitude quiet reflection sadness regret
the living honor the dead through stories

today I wish I had the strength for the stories:
it’s who I am, what I do, it’s my language.
it’s taken me such a long time to get here, to this day

I don’t want to, cannot be derailed
I tend to the grief in my own way,
sending strength and love outward.

(c) March 2017

midnight rambling

resting at midnight
a day’s worth of spring cleaning
just a memory

even now amazed
by the accumulated
clutter of the week.

each time I deep dive
into the mess, I wonder
how does it get here?

gremlins, dust bunnies
cohorts in a filthy crime
to debunk order.

I am wistful for
stylized minimalism
and satisfied with

apartment feng shui:
brownies, freshly baked, still warm.
the sound of thunder

rain splash down on earth.
my eyes grow weary and tired
I succumb to sleep.