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Remembering on this Dia de Los Muertos those who, in their lives, encouraged love and peace…and my own spiritual freedom.
To Charlotte Harrison, Paul Raccah, & Micah True. RIP.
Well loved in a world of
well-loved children,
and of fathers who do not die
holding guns,
A child is unaware
that no stone breaks her glass
no blood floods her milk
no light fades from her lamp–
that her sons will live,
without armies.
No one ever doubts
she belongs everywhere,
to be daring and safe
everywhere.
What will she do with so much peace?
She will create without creating possessions,
paint her dreams on unlocked doors.
When we have forgotten
the ancient religion:
of fear and war.
Tags: Creativity., Fear, Freedom
Thank you for openly sharing the emotions of your heart, for never forgetting the simple message and dreams of those we’ve lost in this physical world. However, we must carry their simple joy of life, and search for truth, in our journey.
We will embrace the beauty around. We will stand for peace and justice.
This poem reached me while I was in Toledo, Ohio, working for the Obama campaign during the run-up to the Nov. 6 election. The impoverished neighborhoods where I canvassed were full of children who could never feel freedom from fear: fear that Mom’s food stamps might run out before the month was over; fear of gunfire by gangs; fear of the countless agencies that controlled and manipulated their lives…
Being caught in war is certainly horrific for kids, but life in an American ghetto isn’t a whole lot different.
Gregg, that was the revelation that spurred my sense of urgency about the so-called Drug War. I wrote about Juarez and Chicago in other poems and narratives knowing that the children of my neighbors in Chicago were experiencing conditions and forces similar to that of their counterparts in Juarez. The Drug War is destroying our neighbors and our neighbor’s children. The white horse in the preceding poem, “Crossing Over…”, represents a man (a close friend who died last March) who slipped between the crush of violence, greed, and rhetoric to create celebrations of life and peace in Mexico’s Copper Canyon. Thanks so much for your comment!