By Karen Kenyon
You are rolled up in your blanket now,
perhaps 40 feet feet from my car
olive brown, army-colored,
here by the peaceful Pacific
tree-willow blue,
Paler near us, darker
near the horizon.
It’s almost time for the green flash,
but you don’t care. …
[Read more…]
By Jay Powell
Surrender your free will to the machine.
That is the act performed,
when you enlist or accept a commission
and take the oath to obey,
without reservation.
They don’t tell you that,
when you are 16 or 17 or 18 or 19 years young.
Your brain, no matter how incredibly brilliant,
is not fully formed and hooked together (scientific fact).
You are still a babe,
whether you know it or not. … [Read more…]
By Janet Parkinson /Poems Against War
Jalal Ahmed 07901 295135
Ali Abbas 07901 567256
Atheer Mohammad 07901 469798
are incised on my thigh.
My wife sees them when we make love.
I see them when I bathe, change clothes.
They are high enough to be covered
at the beach. I do not want
the world to know my fear.
I do not want the world to know
I have reason to fear. …
[Read more…]
Don’t Shoot: Show Love to Take Place in Barrio Logan
By Nepantla Collective
In light of an ongoing epidemic of police brutality, both locally and around the globe, where targets are predominantly impoverished, marginalized and/or people of color, the Nepantla Collective will be hosting a one-day event in Barrio Logan, entitled “Don’t Shoot: Show Love”. This event will take place on Saturday, November 8, 2014 from 3pm to 10pm in in Barrio Logan’s Barrio Arts District.
Monica Hernandez of the Nepantla Collective breaks down why they decided to organize the events and why Barrio Logan was chosen as the venue:
A few years back, my best friend was severely brutalized and beaten by SDPD. Granted he had been rightfully stopped for a traffic violation & had drank a few beers that evening, but by no means did that warrant the excessive force that left his entire body severely bruised. He could barely walk for days, but what hurt me more than to see him in such physical pain, was the look in his eyes that reflected a loss of dignity, which had been brutally stripped from his soul that day.
It was the same look my brother had when he was released from incarceration after being arrested at a student protest. My brother had been charged with assault and battery of a police officer, when in fact it was them (about 3 – 4 officers) who had kicked and broken one of my brother’s ribs. Fortunately we had video footage of the incident and after over a year in court, the Superior Court of Alameda County not only dismissed all charges but also granted a factual finding of innocence.
By Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes
Not angels
that make spaces sacred
nor vaulted ceilings
arching violin bows
It isn’t candles
offering themselves to light
nor fountains of spires
spilling city
Holy
isn’t wholly religious …. [Read more…]
By Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes
If I had a rupee
for every manifestation of the Divine
that has crossed my path
I’d be wearing
the gold embroidered silk
of a wealthy landowner
rather than the cotton thread
of a Brahmin/poet
an untouchable station of life
in a society
squeezing a “few drops of honey” from a thirsty globe
enslaved by suffering … [Read more…]
By George Howell
Sex & Death in the Desert
The big female snout beetle plays dead
When I prod her with a stick,
Apoininae-like
As the field guide says,
Her smaller mate laying dead
In the debris collected in the plastic water bottle,
His legs and snout curled
In the rigid repose of death.
Life is fragile here
In the high desert … [Read more…]
By Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes
Happiness
doesn’t lie
Inside designer purses
drive luxury vehicles
tell time
by taking stock of inventory sold
doesn’t advertise itself
to invent needs
more addictive than meth … [Read more…]
By Ernie McCray
With all the talk about
race, of late,
I recall lessons learned
a long time ago
that enabled me to alter
my emotional state
when it comes to matters of race.
Growing up
I would occasionally, with tears in my eyes,
ask my mother who was loving and wise,
why some white people were so mean.
What had I done to them,
I wanted so much to have explained, … [Read more…]
Sell the car
before it’s repossessed
mortgage the house
before you’re forced into foreclosure
Board the next flight to Berlin
purchase an S-Bahn ticket
back to Babylon’s blue gate
Its oasis of Palms
will make you weep
until the desert sand is washed from your eyes … [Read more…]
By Ernie McCray
I was asked to write something that rhymes for Steve, a friend of mine, who was celebrating entering his 70’s and these words came to me:
In a spirit of love,
with feather weight ease,
I say to my dear friend, Steve,
who has just turned 70,
that he
has reached an age
where you can truly
do or say pretty
much anything
you damn well please.
Cuz the world doesn’t
give a hoot
about an old-assed coot. [Read more…]
By Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes
Cities have scars
war wounds
that maim walls of viscera
neighborhoods live with
long after
the instruments of infliction
are dust
Cities have scars
decapitated domes
cauterized arteries
bearing witness to gain’s loss … [Read more…]
