FOR the fairest maid in Hampton
They needed not to search,
Who saw young Anna favor
Come walking into church,--
Or bringing from the meadows,
At set of harvest-day,
The frolic of the blackbirds,
The sweetness of the hay.
......
GREAT are the myths--I too delight in them;
Great are Adam and Eve--I too look back and accept them;
Great the risen and fallen nations, and their poets, women, sages,
inventors, rulers, warriors, and priests.
Great is Liberty! great is Equality! I am their follower;
Helmsmen of nations, choose your craft! where you sail, I sail,
I weather it out with you, or sink with you.
Great is Youth--equally great is Old Age--great are the Day and
Night;
......
The wanton troopers riding by
Have shot my fawn, and it will die.
Ungentle men! They cannot thrive
To kill thee. Thou ne'er didst, alive,
Them any harm: alas nor could
Thy death yet do them any good.
I'm sure I never wished them ill,
Nor do I for all this; nor will:
But, if my simple pray'rs may yet
Prevail with Heaven to forget
......
O Friends! with whom my feet have trod
The quiet aisles of prayer,
Glad witness to your zeal for God
And love of man I bear.
I trace your lines of argument;
Your logic linked and strong
I weigh as one who dreads dissent,
And fears a doubt as wrong.
......
Now I 'm convinced the Lord is kind
To men of heart sincere;
Yet once my foolish thoughts repined,
And bordered on despair.
I grieved to see the wicked thrive,
And spoke with angry breath,
"How pleasant and profane they live !
How peaceful is their death !
......
Is Christmas ‘bout celebrations?
Its joy… result from gifts?
Or is it just remembrance of
A birth that caused some sifts?
Is Christmas just about me
My family, my kids, my life?
Or should I look beyond myself
And labour to end strife?
......
They walk in darkness
Begging to see
Their voices rise
Hungry to be seen
Invisible people
Still have
Hearts / Beating / Rhythm
Under the weight
of the waiting–
But always,
......
If you stand for a reason,
Be ready to stand alone.
Like a tree,
Rooted deep,
Even when the wind mocks,
Even when the birds leave,
Even when shadows grow longer
And the soil beneath you turns cold.
Because truth
......
Ear pain—
invisible
When heard.
Quietly read,
Its title hides
In public—
so as not to offend
The fragility of the powerful.
......
I speak to those in denial, whether by innocence or intention.
Denial is like an open, raw infection from a 1620s human cargo sailing ship.
The rawness of Americans’ skin was never treated, and the wound never healed.
Our collective and institutional ancestry suffers from this denial.
An untreated wound poisons all of our veins.*
Acceptance
Acknowledgment
......