no more
redemption songs –
this centuries old dance
is exhausting
Pat
4/23/21
For Eugi’s prompt… Dance
For other entries or to participate go here
Redemption Songs
Tag Archives: racism
Skin
knowing looks, whispers
outright aggression
due only to the skin one is in
this norm sewn into our fabric
not swiftly abandoned
cannot withstand hard looks
does this not gnaw
at every soul?
this thing, that is undoing us,
will it ever be excised?
Pat
3/08/21
For dVerse Poets Pub where Sarah is hosting and the prompt is “Swift” on quadrille night ( a 44 word poem).
Theme Prompt – A Gogyohka
as captive of time and nature
eyes nudged open
to this new dawn in the strife of life –
as we move through time,
I breathe – you breathe
Pat R
6/23/20
A Gogyohka for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday. A theme prompt in the words of Longfellow:-
“…In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!…”
OR
“…Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time…”
From his poem
A Rainbow
this cloud lurking overhead
has claimed me
it snuggles in
displacing the thread of hope
I’ve been holding fast to
it flits in the breeze of the blues
swishing through my fingers
at every grasp
I force myself into the garden
it looks thirsty
I turn on the garden hose
and there through the fine sprays
a rainbow
Pat R
6/09/20
This Cloud – A Gogyohka
this cloud, generations old
cavalier cruelty has me bawling again
in search of air I walk to the park
no sign of the sun
yet, a toddler chases butterflies
Pat R
5/28/20
In response to the theme this week over at Colleen’s for Tanka Tuesday is a quote offered by Merril
“How fare that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.”
– William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice.
To read more about the challenge or to participate go here
Also linked to OLN Open Link Night over at dVerse Poet’s Pub where Grace is hosting. Go have a look see here
BIAS
BIAS
Bias ingrained
Hearts and minds indelibly inked
A disconnect from statues in place
Black life don’t matter
Those charged with upholding
guided by inked hearts and minds
Modern day linching
No, he was not 22 he was only 12
He was reaching for license and
registration
Yes, He’s got a smart mouth he
shouldn’t have to pay with his life
One step forward 5 steps backward
Sad, sad times that should no longer be
PR
12/08/14
EMANCIPATION
photo credit: wiki
Henry Louis Stephens, untitled watercolor (c. 1863) of a black man reading a newspaper with headline “Presidential Proclamation/Slavery”.
EMANCIPATION
though it was outlawed
the hardships took a new form
had life of its own
PR
9/11/2014
Henry Louis Stephen, illustrator
American
Feb 11, 1824-Dec 13, 1882
thoughts and entanglements 
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