POETRY -in honor of Poetry month

THE WAR

The war, the conflict in Ukraine

The death and destruction

The unending pain and suffering

When does it end?

For the people of Ukraine

No home to return to

A home where they welcome the early morning sunshine coming through their window to warm their faces

The early morning hugs from small children still

?with sleep in their eyes as they eat at the kitchen table before school

A mother that feeds her newest infant

Kissing her loving husband as he leaves for work

When will this carnage end and life begins again

Tell me, who will end this war

Who will say, we are sorry

Who will patch the holes in the homes

And in the hearts of these people

Who will console them for the lost the have suffered

No one will

Not the world and its inept leaders

Who allow a war to occur

Who sleep in their warm bed through it all

Who eat full meals, sleep, and dream

And claim that they care

That they tried to stop the war

That they are protectors of the people

They are not

They are all lairs

They are pretenders

They are not peacemakers

They are warmakers

War is easy when you wage it

Peace is hard because it requires compromise

Peace requires sacrifice of self

None of these leaders are peacemakers

They are warmongers

They care not for the people they pretend to serve

But for the fortunes of war that they enjoy

So, I ask.

When will the war end

And peace breaks through

I have no answer

None whatsoever.

GOING BACK

You cannot go back

You must go forward

Go forward and embrace the future

Embrace the gifts and the challenges

Your success and your failures

Use your strengths, your focus

To crush the stones in your path

To step on the snakes in the road

That seeks to impede you

That seeks to trap you in the status quo

Make strong strides

Don’t look back to the past

You cannot turn around

Or even look back

You must go forward to continue your journey

And forward, and forward

Your path is only forward, and forward, and forward.

THE BREACH

One hundred thousand strong

Men and women barely 17 years old

In the cold, the wind, the rain

They stand on someone else doorstep

On someone else’s lawn

With guns and other weapons of war

Because you sent them there to die

Because you failed to save the peace

Because of your selfishness and greed

They stand there in the Breach

Most have not had their first kiss

Made love for the first time

But they stand there because you said they should

To protect their country 10 million miles away

This is a lie, a big lie

They are there to protect you

As you lay in your warm bed

Wrapped in your warm blanket

With your wife or lover at your side

Secured by the men standing outside your front door

And these young men, these young women

A million miles away

On someone’s doorstep. Not theirs

To protect your interest, not theirs

Where is the peace you speak of?

You have failed again and again to secure the peace

So you resort to war

You are not standing in the Breach

Protecting these young men and women

Who will die when the first shots are fired

Or maimed for life

And you are not there

To comfort them, or shield and protect them

Because you lied to them,

and to all of us about the need for war

this is your war

SNAKE RIVER

Worming its way through the wide valley

On the edges of tall mountains and low hills

The snake river flows and flows

over small rocks and through deep crevices

For miles and miles to the sea

But it flows with grace and vibrancy

The meadows in the valley inundated with low-rolling hills and green grasses

and small fragrant flowers scattered over the hills

and along the snake river bank

here are trees too, small and large

They are covered with leaves that rustle as the gentle winds blow against them

The home of small birds who build their homes

With the dry straw from the grassy fields

And the tender slim branches, shed by the trees

Homes that secure themselves and the babies they hatch

That they feed with fresh grass and fragrant flowers

And small insects whom themselves feed on the flowers

And the people that call the valley home as the birds do

They live in peace among the birds, the trees,

the wildflowers of the green fields

Some near the snake river

Others, over the undulating hills

But all see the valley as life

Life to be cherished and worshiped

Because it sustains them in every way from the rich soil, they grow food

And feed from the fish that live in the snake river

and the cool water that nourishes them

The snake valley

Although in my mind

A dream perhaps

But real to me

WALLS DEFINE ME

Walls surround me

Four walls 10,000 feet high

I cannot climb it, and it is too high

Or push it open

Or spread my wings and fly over it

I have no wings

I can only hope to make myself so small

That I can escape through its tiny cracks

Or change to water and dissipate through the ground that I stand on

Or die here because no one knows that I am here

Or even care that I am here.

FIGHTING

WE FIGHT

WE FIGHT

WE FIGHT

WE FIGHT WARS

WE DIE

WE DIE

WE DIE

WE FIGHT WARS

COME FIGHT WITH US

COME FIGHT WITH US

COME FIGHT WITH US

AND DIE WITH US

AND DIE WITH US

AND DIE WITH US

WE FIGHT WARS.

ALWAYS A MAN

“Stand in the corner,” You say

With your eyes shut,

Your mouth closed

Your ears plugged

Just stand in the corner

You are not a man

You are a prop

This is what you say to me

This is what you think of me

Is it fear of the Black man?

It is the fear of the Black man

Nothing more

But I am a man

I am a Black man

I am the world you live in

You cannot deny me

You cannot kill me

Or Neuter me

You cannot deny my history

It is your history too

And history is history

Unchanged and unchanging

It’s about life itself

You did not begin today

Or will it not tomorrow

You began yesterday

And you live today

What fool denies their history

Throw away their forefathers and their foremothers

As if they never existed

Is this you?

I will move as I please.

From the light to the shadows

And back again

As I so, please

You will not deny me this

Because I am a man

I am a Black man

A philosopher

A scientist

A teacher

An adventurer

And so much more

You cannot deny me this!

WAR

WAR IS MADNESS!!!!!!

It affects me in such a profound way.

The death and destruction

The pain and suffering

By people who have no decision in waging war

In Ukraine

In Syria

In Afghanistan

I Iraq

In Africa

In Asia

This world is so cruel to so many

And beneficial to so few who wage war.

War is madness

A QUIET WORLD?

The World has gone quiet

No clickety, clack

Clackety click

No rumbling of the traffic down my street

No horns blaring

People arguing at the market

No noise

No talking heads on TV

The world has gone quiet

Is it a new beginning?

But, no

Not without an end

So, is this the end

The end of it all

Maybe

I am without sight

Without my sense of smell or taste

I cannot feel the breeze or wind against my face

I cannot hear the rhythmic sounds of the clickety, clack, clackety, click

So, for me, the World has gone quiet

An end, perhaps, and a new beginning perhaps

IN THE WIND

In the rain

In the storm

Like an Oak tree

He stood

Feet rooted deeply in the ground

Branches swaying

Leaves flying about

But he stood strong in the breach

Protecting all of us

Fulfilling his mission

In the wind

In the rain

In the storm

Like an Oak tree

He stood

Feet rooted deeply in the ground

Branches swaying

Leaves flying about

But he stood strong in the breach

Protecting all of us

Fulfilling his mission

THAT DAY IN MAY

It rained in bucketsful

The weatherman said it was gonna rain

But no one believed him

It rained though

But soon, it stopped, and the Sun came out

So bright, you needed sunglasses

Then suddenly, the dark clouds blanketed us

It rained again

This time in angry, bucketsful

Pelting down on us

Crystal marbles of precious water

Bathing the world one more time

But I did not care

I was snuggled up under a brand-new blanket with my lover

Holding her tightly

to prevent her from leaving

We had argued a few days before

Angry words were said, words I regret

And I know she did as well

So, we held each other

And hoped that this day in May

With the heavy rains

Our angry words will be washed away

Into the streets, into the gutters and gone forever

And we will be friends again.

ONLY ONE OF US

One candle is lit for one of us

One candle represents all of us

We live as one of us

We live together as all of us

We die as one of us

We die together as all of us

We survive as one of us

We survive together as one of us

We are together as one of us

We are together as all of us

Just one candle for all of us

We are one of us

I DREAM

Sometimes I dream of dancing

through the vibrant desert of our African fatherland

Stomping vicious scorpions and deadly snakes

And other times

I just dream of nothingness

I AM A MAN

I am a man

I am the Ying or the Ying Yang

I am the seed that impregnates the soil of Mother Earth

I am the salt in the Ocean

I am the fish in the Ocean

I am the stars in the Heavens

I am the Sun

I am the Moon

I am the Earth

I am the Hills

I am the Mountains.

Even the ones under the Sea

I am a man

I am no one else

I am the man that the Almighty has made

And no one can convince me otherwise.

BONES

The bones, the bones

Neck bones, elbow bones, ankle bones

Bones from the ribs of many, many people

Men, women and children

Murdered or wounded and left to die

Death from the war waged by men

Because of disputes of all kinds

Disputes that are angry, selfish, unreasonable, unnecessary

Useless wars where no one wins

Just people dying and suffering in great pain

Hunger everywhere

And bones, and bones and bones

From the millions and millions of those robbed of their lives

MEASURE OF A MAN

What is the measure of a man?

It is not his wealth.

His physical strength

His good looks

His career

It is his person

His humility

His empathy

His dismissal of the status quo

His embracement of change

His spirituality

His creativity

His reaching out to those around him

Who needs his counsel and his guidance

His warm embrace and his friendship

This is the measure of a man who is worthy of life’s enormous beauty????????

THE SEA OF GALILEE

Written in the scrolls of the Elders

In the village of Galilee

Is the story of the formation of the “Sea”

The Sea of Galilee

It was formed eons ago

By great men and women of Faith

They built a dam in the middle of the desert

In the middle of their village

They called it the “Sea.”

Then prayed for 40 days and 40 nights

And their GOD was pleased

And for 40 days and 40 nights

The tears of Heaven rained down on the village

And filled the Sea with tears of joy

And populated with fish and other creatures of the sea

So that the people of the village

Will be fed each day

Will drink its water each day

And be nourished each day

And bathe each day

And wash their garments

And pray each day

In a life of joy and happiness

In the village surrounding the “Sea.”

The Sea of Galilee

In the village of Galilee

TWIST AND TWIST

You twist and twist

You turn and turn

Twerking, twerking all around

Are you, my marionette?

I watch you from afar

Through the darkness of my mind

I watch you tease and tease me

As you beckon me to come to you

I am stuck.

In the mud and sludge up to my waist

I cannot move toward you

Just backward and backwards

Away from you Into oblivion

NEW BROWN SHOES

These are my new brown shoes

They are leather

Good dark leather

Smooth and shiny

I have had them for over 30 years

A gift from my lover

I wear them often

Almost every day

And I think of her whenever I do

The comfort of these shoes reminds me of her

Soft, warm, caring, and full of energy

She keeps me excited

Just like these new brown shoes.

They are not new now

But they have been worn well

Well cared for

Polished and shined every day

Even on Sundays

I wear them with affection

And the endearment of my lover

MIDNIGHT

Wake me up at midnight

Wake me up at midnight

At 12 am, exactly

Not 1159pm or 1201am

Wake me up at midnight

At 1200am, exactly

Not 1159pm or 1201am

Wake me up at 1200am

I want to go to my mountaintop in the darkness

The cool breeze swirling around me and across my face

As I wait until the sun comes up in the east

Revealing the vast meadow below

With rivers that empty into the deep blue sea off in the distance

The sea churning and churning, and feeding the creature of the sea

I want to watch the fishermen prepare their nets

Singing their songs of hope for a great catch at the day’s end

I will watch the sun intently as it rolls across the bluish sky and bulbous clouds

And over this broad expanse of sea and land, and land and sea

Lighting the world and traveling unconstrained to its destination, the evening sky

And when it gets there, I will retreat from my elevated throne and return to bed

To sleep and dream and dream and dream of life as it should be.

SUCCESS

You did not succeed because of your talents alone

You grew because others nudged you

Cajoled you

Nurtured you

Challenged you

Carried you

Led you

Directed you

Applauded you

Success is not a one-man band

It is a full orchestra

So be mindful of your success

You did not do it alone

A WALK ALONG THE OCEAN FLOOR

I enter the ocean

Not to swim but to walk along its magnificent floor

Through its expansive valleys, over its high hills

Through its many dark caves and caverns

Among its flora and colorful plants

Saying hello to its many strange creatures

At least strange to me

I am in their element

I am careful to honor them

To respect their peaceful existence

Unlike humans who are never peaceful

Whose ships and planes shot down or sunk

Litters the ocean floor

Creating homes and playgrounds

for many creatures of the ocean

The environment refreshes me

Giving me energy

Until I get to the other side

I want to stay here at the bottom of the ocean

But I do not belong here

So, I must end my watery journey

And walk out of the ocean

THIS KEY OF MINE

Forged from steel

Or iron

Cut to fit the door to my room

It is my private room

Where my secrets lay

Where my heart is

Where my mind is

Where my wisdom is

Where my knowledge is

That nourishes me

My fears reside here

My bravery reside here

My successes and my failures reside here

This is my key

Forged of iron or steel, or both

Do you have a key to your room?

One made of steel or iron?

Or made of just love?

A key like mine

THEY WERE DRESSED IN BLUE

Dressed in Blue, they stood, 300 strong

Arm in arm back-to-back

Lightly armed, but armed just the same

They were there to protect the citadel

The center of their fledgling democracy

Against the wild, an angry mob of men and women

Who were heavily armed with guns, knives, sticks

And a host of other weapons

They were there not to protect life but to take life

They were there to revenge their defeated leader

They were there to “stop the steal,”

They were there to stop the installation of a duly elected leader

They shouted angry words laced with vitriol

They made atrocious claims of legitimacy

They made claims of being cheated

But they weren’t cheated; they lost

They lost badly, by a landslide

All of 8 million votes

But they believed the “big lie”

The lies their defeated leader told them

A grifter, he was. A cheat, a liar

He promoted misogyny as a badge of honor

He told them the big lie and they believed him

Just like the Piped Piper, or Jim Jones

And so many more of this type

But the men in Blue

All 300 of them

Stood strong against the strong, angry winds

Arm in arm, back-to-back

Defending our constitution