We have done this likeforeverhaven’t we? When Anna’s cousin wasbeaten to death by Mrs. Hicksfor falling asleep overa crying childthe toll of countlesssleepless nights was notconsidered – no being aslave meansstay awake,stay awake, stay awakeor die.The child belonged toMrs. Hicks.Of course.The crime was falling asleep.Not the torture.Not the beating her dead. We have done thisContinue reading “Cancel culture”
Category Archives: Racism
Checkpoint Charlie*
Can you imagine it? Littlebrown skinned children evadingthe sharp eyes of the Texasgovernor giving all those legislatorsCovid, yes those little devils,challengers of walls and all things thatinjure wildlife roam the stateCapitol in this, the hottest ofwars Mister patriotic, friend ofthe KGB, (well formerly), seems toget a kick out of blamingchildren – poor children that is,sinceContinue reading “Checkpoint Charlie*”
1619
Money will follow a lieorthe lie follows the moneytake your pickboth are true When a child is separatedfrom his mother inTexas or Arizona orwhereverknow that the gun soldsouth to a drug lord inGuatemala or El Salvador orwhereverthis is the linkthis – the gun Follow the money thatfollows the lie orthe lie that follows themoneytake yourContinue reading “1619”
History lessons
Obfuscation is necessary herehide those pesky factsin plain sight if need bea truth told slantin a world on firefloods everywhereprevarication all overthe place Mamie Till stoodher ground –she let the imageof her son’s facetell the storyand what a storyit wasmust have beenif they are stillintent on lyingabout itobfuscation –that is what it is allabout 2023
The times we live in
There is always a bite to looking different whether mild habanero or sharp like the ghost the flesh is game to be dragged across man-made barriers invisible to nature which never divides the difference. The twitting of words that brings out groans is a venom that looms over language profound, the poet can but wanderContinue reading “The times we live in”
Malignant normalcy
“Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.” African proverb A duck is not a goose quack, quack. Call it what it is quack, quack. We stood on the old stone steps, my sister and I, steps that watched over Lake Huron and there she was,Continue reading “Malignant normalcy”
Channeling Langston Hughes
Exhaustion is my mantra when bullies are deified, and the very word itself is redefined. Let us take a peeler – free the orange from rind, perhaps the hate will dissipate, turning into kind.
I wish I were a mockingbird
I wish I were a mockingbird beyond the reach of human cant – can’t step around the hate of all that is different. So easy is the blackbird life who squawks at me upon the beach – his reach is plain for all to see he has no use for human greed. Newborn babes areContinue reading “I wish I were a mockingbird”
Favorite things
The eye of a vireo like Dorothy’s ruby red, when I actually see it my grin opens wide. The carpet newly vacuumed, the dishes put away, the sheets when pulled from dryer, the smell of them laying down. My father’s voice resounding with ‘How great thou art’, my mother’s apple pie, no birthday went without.Continue reading “Favorite things”
Cups running over
It has always been the age – hasn’t it, when children are raped and pay for it with a nod to sorrow. The guzzlers then move on with laws that punish vessels. You would think perhaps in the world of new, whether York or Orleans, we could see our way through the rage that strikesContinue reading “Cups running over”
Anne's mediocre poetry 