inspired by
Lidi Minuet
and her poem
"HATCH"


I found an egg of crystal
it had a little crack
though beautiful as opals
integrity it lacked

I asked the Lord to help me
"whatever should I do?"
He told me to go and plant it
when the day was new

and so I looked for soil
but no soft could be found
so I planted my wee egg
in hard, forbidding
ground

I watered it with tears
for others suffering lack
and after a little while
the ground
began to
crack!

a tentative green sprout
pushed up its tender head
it grew up from the rocky ground
I had thought so dead!

I continued watering
I knew naught else to do
and a tulip flower appeared
the lightest
eggshell blue!

I watered then in earnest!
I wanted for to see
that flower strong and healthy
and what it'd bloom to be!

slowly the petals opened
and lo! there fast emerged
a'singing and a'fluttering
a little crystal bird!

out of the light blue flower
the creature dipped and soared
it was then I realized
my hope had been restored!

flying 'round my head
its feathers sent off light
as brilliant as a diamond
shattering the night

it was only then I realized
as the darkness fell apart
the soil was life's hardships
and the
egg
had been my

HEART**


SoulSurvivor
(C) 12/17/2015

You make me laugh when I want to cry,
Make me live when I want to die,
Make me smile when I want to frown,
You turn my life upside down.
Believe in me when no one else does
You’re my now, my is, my was.
When you call my name I begin to blush,
I'm afraid people notice I need you so much.
When I'm with you time flies by fast.
It's like the present is the past.
I need you more than you can believe,
Love you more than you can conceive.
Think about you every night and day
And hope my life can stay this way
I don't want it to be any other way.

•    
i've
   witness-
   ed the others
   fall over several
sets•leaving you alone
shivering on a spindly twig
•the winds of autumn had whis-
pered their threats...•to sweep you
off your perch into the world so big
•the season had almost gone to make
way for another•answering the sum-
mons of winter's call•had anticipated
the coming of your departure•...i had  
sworn to myself to catch you as you'd  
fall•for a brief moment, i had turned  
away•to tend to commitments that  
came with dawn...•i returned to  
stay and wait another day...•  
but the wind had come  
while i was
g
o
n  
e•    
.

you ask me what it's like to be black
and i'll tell you it's a warm soulful fulfilling feeling
like a pair of new Chucks on the hot pavement jumping scotch on a busy summer day
eating cool iced pops and not ever being afraid
and smelling the warm carmel cake cooling on the stove
and the togetherness on a Sunday evening in grandmama's home

but you ask me what it's like to be black
in america
and i'll fall silent of conversation
because as you see history repeats itself
i don't understand why there is still need for explanation
in deep adversaries and hateful unappreciation
here we stand to be questioned by an authoritative negation

and ignorant folk,
why do you ask me such things?
why are you people mad?
why is it about race?

and i'll ask you, why does the caged bird sing?
is he not entitled to his song or his wings?

as green as the earth and as blue as the sky
i will only explain to an ear willing to listen
to a being with a sound heart and a firm mind
because as God as my witness we were created as equal

and for that given right we must die?

i will sit back and in turn ask you why;
i bet you couldn't say
and maybe we will all learn the answer some day
so join me in prayer will you?
join me as i pray:

to the children of Chicago
who can't go out to play
to the sons and fathers of
Missouri and Florida and New York
who will never again see the light of day
to the mother's pain that may fade
but won't ever go away
to the hateful people and their hateful words and their hateful ways
God won't You heal their pain?

they're so ******* us, Lord
now we're ******* ourselves
and on our knees we have fallen
needing guidance and help
because it isn't about being privilged
or living for the light we're consumed in

being black in america is no longer about being accepted as black

it's about being accepted as human.

I am not indecisive,
I am cautious.
I am not anti- social,
I am selective.
I am not rude,
I am blunt.
I am not a *****,
I am healing.

I am
The words you dare not speak out loud  
I am
The crushed bones that have been resown
I am
The oceans that crash within your eyes
I am
The fire that burns those
Who come too close
I am
Fierce
I am
A lover
I am
A warrior
I am
Free
I am
A fighter
I am
A survivor
I am
Learning from my past
Living my present
And looking to my future
I am
Confident
I am
Beautiful


I am not
Easily broken
I am not
A victim
I am not
Scared of the unknown
I am not
Wary of change
I am not
Dependent on anyone
I am not
Afraid of loss

But...
I
Am
Brave


.