Late_Autumn_Talks_in_Tongues

Balancing weight for the fifth time this week. Subtle. Heavy. A bluesy rhythm set to the tone of American hustle, muscle. Carlos Santanna strums a melody for a sun hanging on a cold day in late November. Nothing moves outside besides random crows and Black Friday sales. Crafting lines around moods has been the way,Continue reading “Late_Autumn_Talks_in_Tongues”

Used to the Weather

Adapting to the changes. To changes, I adapt. Eerily. Patiently. An early November morning winks her eye. Still gambling with old dice, trying to outlive the poison of snakebites or out hustle the pigs at a scrambler’s pace. Colonial thinking does not live in these veins. Strange DNA. I hear an unkempt drummer. Hands slapContinue reading “Used to the Weather”

Words and Beats at Sundown

Joy is a state of mind. Even a crooked smile has value. Changing tires in the wilderness has become a thing. Greg Lee unpacks the gear for another small crowd. We fall in with the people for an hour, connecting our stories, our long walks for meaning. A Haitian woman says we remind her ofContinue reading “Words and Beats at Sundown”

With Outstretched Wings

American politics weigh the equivalent of a night without Bobby Womack’s raspy voice filling this space. Eerie. Boring. Slightly neutral. Need some Soul to waist away the evening. Maybe some Blues from John Lee Hooker. I sample a new protein powder in my coffee. Unflavored. The Stevia crawls down my throat in slow leaps andContinue reading “With Outstretched Wings”

New Poems in The Skinny Poetry Journal!

Peace and greetings! I hope this message finds you well and finding some semblance of peace in the current whirlwinds of the American experience. The Skinny Poetry Journal has published two of my poems, James Baldwin’s Smile and Medium Sized Coffee with a Side Order of Resistance. Click on the image and check them out!

Unbothered: After Election Time

After voting time, my face is still shaped like a fist. Tightly screwed. Unbothered. Huey P. Newton behind a podium or Fred Hampton trying to build class solidarity. The truth lives in a gray area, an overcast reality. Strange and lit. Apply maximum muscle in traffic–shun mercy–because they only understand pressure. Pressure is sustained ideology,Continue reading “Unbothered: After Election Time”

Nation-Building Escapes Fingertips

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us.”–Marianne Williamson Allergic to nation-building and the rich blues of the Diaspora. Them reparations checks keep xenophobes mentally enslaved, shucking and jiving for quasi-liberation, for aContinue reading “Nation-Building Escapes Fingertips”

American Jazz in Late October

A different path. A different frequency. Flight is an idea, a way of life for people who are locked into alternative methods of screaming into the void, an American thing. The Last Poets talk fear of revolution. Lock Smith runs down the good news, like a street prophet, searching for the right angle to communicateContinue reading “American Jazz in Late October”

Stand Down, Stand Up, and Kneel at the Same Time

Avoid cosplay by any means. Ten toes down. Actors can’t live here. As an Orange tyrant drives a filthy machine through traffic, hoping to convert sleepy people into patriotic minions. Toxic. Life in the margins is lit and smoky. Climb levels of wokeness. Bold. Both parties got blues in their veins. Angry birds don’t fly straight.Continue reading “Stand Down, Stand Up, and Kneel at the Same Time”