For MLK, 50 Years After the Outrage

"For MLK, 50 Years After the Outrage"

I am older now than you ever got to be.

So young, too young, so much more to do.

But I was a child then, you the elder.

Your legacy shaped my life.

So much so that I, too,

am the Reverend Doctor.

The doctor so I can educate;

The reverend so that I can

more fully embrace the duty of Love

I owe my brothers and sisters.

The path you laid out is not easy.

Hate is so much easier than Love;

But Love so much more worth the effort.

I have tried, Reverend Doctor,

to be the sister you deserve.

To teach, to lead, to keep up the fight,

until our children live in a world

in which they are judged for their

characters, not their skin color.

I pray I live to see the world you envisioned,

And pray that when we meet someday, both

on the other side, you will smile, and know

that your words fell on fertile ground.

But today, 50 years on, I mourn the life

that ignorance brutally ended.

Until we meet in glory, dear brother,

I endeavor to keep your legacy alive.

Rest in power, Brother Martin. With love.

Pretty

Pretty

You are so pretty

But

cut your nose

cut your fat

cut your hair.

You are so pretty

But

                tweeze your eyebrows

                perm your hair

                stand up straighter

You are so pretty

But

                dye your hair

                bleach your teeth

                fix that chin.

I am so pretty.

But when I look in the mirror

A stranger looks back.

               

NaPoWriMo #1 Apostate's Alleluia

Apostate’s Alleluia

Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus

who rose from the dead like so many gods before Him.

But we don’t talk about that, because, of course

He is the One True God. And for a long time, I believed.

I still Believe in Jesus being a true God. But also ask:

Is there really One True God?

                                              I think not.

There is a Creator, beyond comprehension.

Beyond gender, beyond race, beyond human.

But humans love putting face on the Divine,

so that our feeble brains can understand.

So “God” appears in different guises

in different times to different cultures.

Baldr died and rose again, but not to save from Death.

As did Inanna, who returned after three days.

Osiris, dead at his jealous brother’s hand, returned

thanks to a desperate wife’s love and magic.

But humans can be petty creatures.

Their god is “the” god. They will

fight to the death, torture, maim, murder

to deny others their right to believe.

Love Incarnate will ultimately triumph

but meanwhile, this apostate cries:

“Alleluia, He is Risen! Let all be Blessed!

“Alleluia, Love is with us. Amen”