Reaching out.
Waves crashing,
At my feet.
Love crushing
The air
Out of my lungs.
What is to be
Expected
From my great God
Next?
Joy is pulling out
My fingernails.
Peace is knocking me
Unconscious.
What can I give
To board the train
Going up the hill?
What can I say
To bring mercy
To my body
And soul?
Grace
Is beating me
To a pulp.
Jesus,
Save me
From your church!
Save me
From society!
The powerful
And the rich
Hover above
My bleeding body,
Like vultures.
How can I escape?
Naked
Exposed
Unwanted touching
Lost
Confused
Violated
Neglected
Overwhelmed
Abandoned
Why?
I want to get closer,
But I’m afraid.
I want to pray,
But I’m not sure
Who I’m praying to.
So many different images
In my mind,
Competing for my
Attention.
Who are you,
And what do you
Want from me?
Can I trust you?
I look at all
The imperfect people
In my life,
And I struggle
To understand
Words like
Perfection,
Love,
Righteousness,
Holiness,
Sanctification,
Charity,
Divinity…
The list goes
On and on.
Can you tell me:
What is true,
And
What is a lie?
I’m lost.
I closed my eyes to the world,
For I could not bear another
Moment of its peril,
Persecution and sword.
All the fighting was too much
To take in each day,
The cruelty and carnage,
The swearing and insulting,
Turning heads to wrongs abounding.
So, my hope was hanging
In a precious balance.
Whether I could go on,
Was in doubt, for sure.
I decided to appeal
To my higher power,
The merciful God of Spirit,
Who had rescued my life from ruin.
Somehow, there must be possibility
For my present earth to reconcile
All this shambles of civilization,
A carcass of the creation
That existed so many years ago.
I prayed a solemn petition,
Asking Jesus for His grace,
A gentle dose of mercy
For this time and place.
And so I placed my trust
In the heaven above,
Shedding no more tears for the future.
I know it is in God’s hands,
And I believe that is enough.
I was going to say
Something wonderful,
But I stopped short of wonder,
And went with terrible, instead.
It seemed more appropriate,
And I was content.
I thought I might compliment
All the impressive things
Being done in the world,
But before I got very far,
I contemplated the war machine,
And colonization, and slavery,
So I let it be, and moved on.
So many good people doing good things,
It makes me want to have faith,
But instead I think about
Corruption, shootings and partisanship,
And I want to throw up.
Silence.
Tick, tick, tick, tick…
Ouch! That hurts!
Tick, tick, tick, tick…
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Hello?
Silence.
Hello? Is there anybody there?
Silence.
Tick, tick, tick, tick…
Ring! Ring! Ring!
I don’t care! I just don’t care, anymore.
Silence.
I never thought we’d come to this place—
You and me on opposing sides, in a race
Against time, against each other, against freedom.
Never thought I’d be fighting a brother in the kingdom.
Sometimes, I get confused about all the issues.
Hold it now, I need a box of tissues.
Life has taught me to be true to those
Close to me, who’d give me the clothes off their back.
Maybe if we try to make this moment count,
Dig in, and give it all we’ve got.
Can you see the light coming at you now?
Don’t leave me here to just fester and rot!
You mean a lot to me, I wish you could
Accept that simple truth as a fact.
Let’s do the right thing, like eating your favorite food.
It feels good, even to be caught in the act.
Everything we learned yesterday doesn’t come
To mean a thing without love.
Every heart we’ve broke just feels like some
Kind of putting our head in a stove.
But you and me, we’ve been around the block.
We know the rules, and the pain, there’s no going back.
It’s not too late to correct yourself.
Just put those lies on the back shelf.
Hear me say, it’s not the same thing
As going on the first date.
Going steady makes me irate.
Take off like a big spring
That’s all I got, so take it or leave it!
The new name for Aunt Jemima is Pearl Milling Company. They are starting to switch everything over now, but the old label is still on some products for sale. The picture of the black woman character will be retired.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aunt_Jemima?wprov=sfti1
The brand basically exploited the blackface Mammy character of the motherly house slave that was popular in vaudeville. Not the best symbol. Have you ever read the autobiography of Malcolm X? Or seen the Spike Lee movie starring Denzel Washington? It’s really about a subconscious denigration of black women linked to their social position in slavery and later as housekeepers. White people used their power to institutionalize their social, economic and sexual position in society at the loss of black women. It may not offend most people because it’s so ingrained in our culture for black people, and especially black women, to be uneducated servants. It is a long history and there are still parts of the underbelly of our society in which it still rings true.
The history serves as an excuse and strength of argument and social attraction of black social and political groups like the Nation of Islam, which was in its heyday in the 1960s under Malcolm X. You should see the movie. It’s very entertaining, not to mention educating. The book is great too, written with Alex Haley, who wrote Roots. The controversy is not about who buys the product. It’s about the fact that a certain part of the population has been exploited and abused and a negative stereotype was used at their expense. It’s just wrong to use a name and likeness of a figure like “Aunt Jemima” to make money. It’s a part of the past that is shameful to all races and should be discouraged and put away to only learn from.
And it’s not just an alienation from language, or communication. It’s rejection of the individual, lack of acceptance, judgment. Words are empty when trying to express the grief and sorrow that results from this situation, a hopeless condition.
Lack of connection. No community. No friends. No religion. No god. Just a meaningless existence with no purpose, no focus, no hope. Everything social is either scripted or random. There is nothing real out there, or in here.
And there is only the chance to connect based on a common existence or perceived state of loneliness, ennui, loss of meaning, relativity. Everything depends on everything else. Nothing is certain. Life is one absurd action, thought or event after another.
There are no words
That come to mind,
Seeing things pass by—
Another day is gone.
My sweet is far away.
I hear her voice,
But she won’t stay.
She has other things to do today.
Many moons will rise and fall
Before she comes back to me.
Many lonely days will pass
Until her face I see.
When she returns,
She will find me
Exceedingly happy,
Joyful, thankfully.
Stumbling along the sidewalk 