America was born mulatto, stillborn
But for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,
Aphorisms written in blood with hands trembling,
Terrified of the dark engine that drove
The clouds roll in on rails
Freighted with storms headed West,
A great chain of color clanking
Across the sky, a mass of iron
America, how I thought I knew thee well!
Land of the West, of golden gleaming hope,
Of the People’s answer to Dante’s hell;
We who with freedom and slavery cope.
Do not be fooled by the fool,
The man who flaunts and struts,
Whose words are empty but cruel
Like the waiting grave a genocide abuts.
Dear “Mr. President,” I have learned so much from you during your brief stint as “president” that I cannot help but write to enumerate the ways and to thank you for them, and I would be remiss if I didn’t start […]
Lost in the daily maelstrom that is the Trump Presidency, one defined by the behavior of an infantile, mendacious, bigoted, misognyistic, xenophobic jackass, is the troubling fact that nearly half of those who voted in the election voted for such a […]
When the threats rained down like lava
And forged fiery beaches of hate,
I took to the podium to smother
With love the fire into steam,
Only to hear they, the unaffected,
Say, “Let’s not get political.”
The flags are at full-staff
Though Jackeline is dead
Of dehydration
And the Guatemalan boy whose name
Has not been released
Is dead
Of the flu—
I’ve spent the past few weeks working to formulate my response, practical as well as philosophical, to the election of Donald Trump. During this time, I have been appalled to hear well-meaning Democrats, from President Obama to Chuck Shumer and […]
The steam began to billow,
The engine howl,
The air to vibrate and scowl,
The sun to emerge from below
To erase shadows, cast doubts,
Cleave good from bad,
Stir the lover and the lout.