Each and every year, a million moments.
Offered by time, accepted gracefully.
Burned kindling, look the children in their eyes.
Accept not a truce, but a compromise.  
Ladle the broth, quench your thirst thankfully.
Fall in line, work, sleep, repeat in sequence.
Remember, forget, live, softly demise.
Mad men always hold onto life's surprise.

A ****** of crows
Converge,  holding court,
In the towering elm tree
That is framed by the broad sky
Outside my window-
The green leaves
Vibrant and bright
Against the backdrop of their
Majestic plumage-
To share the wealth
That sunlight revealed,
Striking a joyful chorus
A celebration of their
Homeward return,
Their song cracking open
The quiet peace of
The evening sky,
The chaotic din belying
The order of their nightly
Congress, the hierarchy
That they know in their blood.
Their flailing inelegant dance
As they bound
among the branches
Is so contrary to their powerful grace
As they take flight,
Their blue black wings beating
At the air, shimmering in the dying light
Of the sunset, fast fading,
Ushering in the stars

Last night,
I boiled
and baked,
fried at least twice,
a meal
of multiple courses,
balanced textures,
and a symphony of spices.

Deliciously earned,
in hours, in dishes,
it tasted
as good
as food
can taste.

.

This morning
I overslept,
groaned upright
into water and coffee.

This morning,
this banana,
is heaven on earth.

I dance attached to the roots that grew before me.
I dance to call the rains, to nourish the seeds planted by my ancestors.
I dance in honor.

I dance to release the pain,
Injected in our veins,
Through centuries of violence.

I dance to feel what freedom is.

I dance to remind the ground we are here.
I dance to make imprints on the earth.

We dance to feel what freedom is.

We dance to conjure the energy to carry on.
We dance to communicate with the moon and the sun.

We dance to imagine our future.

A future where the poisons of division have been shaken away.
A future built where healing is the only way.
A future that feels like a dance.
A future that gives all of us a chance.

i wonder how easy it is
to walk away like that
because i cant seem to find
the strength
to just let go of your hand

in every downfall i face
your name rushes in like waves

         you feel like poison

                    but also my saving grace