Two things form the bedrock of any open society—freedom of expression and rule of law. If you don't have those things, you don't have a free country.
~Salman Rushdie
Happy Poetry Friday! Black poets with poems for our times today. We have community support from Bianca Lynne Spriggs, encouragement from Amanda Gorman, resilience/defiance from Lucille Clifton, the value of education from Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, and a reality check from Gwendolyn Brooks.
Some days I just can't look away from the news. It's like someone I love is ill and I am keeping a bedside vigil. But it's rough, and I definitely need to find a healthy balance.* Today I've had a deep dive into poetry and that has been refreshing, no matter the topic.
It doesn't take very much attention to notice that a man who says "let's celebrate pediatric cancer survivors" while cancelling funding for pediatric cancer research is not a truthteller. His supporters believe him anyway. Here's Gwendolyn Brooks with "truth":
truth
by Gwendolyn Brooks
And if sun comes
How shall we greet him?
Shall we not dread him,
Shall we not fear him
After so lengthy a
Session with shade?
Though we have wept for him,
Though we have prayed
All through the night-years—
What if we wake one shimmering morning to
Hear the fierce hammering
Of his firm knuckles
Hard on the door?
Shall we not shudder?—
Shall we not flee
Into the shelter, the dear thick shelter
Of the familiar
Propitious haze?
Sweet is it, sweet is it
To sleep in the coolness
Of snug unawareness.
****************************
Earthrise
by Amanda Gorman
For it is our hope that implores us, at our uncompromising core,
To keep rising up for an earth more than worth fighting for.
read the rest here
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won’t you celebrate with me
by Lucille Clifton
my one hand holding tight
my other hand; come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed.
read the rest here
****************************
Learning to Read
by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
Very soon the Yankee teachers
Came down and set up school;
But, oh! how the Rebs did hate it,—
It was agin’ their rule.
Our masters always tried to hide
Book learning from our eyes;
Knowledge did’nt agree with slavery—
’Twould make us all too wise.
But some of us would try to steal
A little from the book.
read the rest here
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To the woman I saw today who wept in her car
by Bianca Lynne Spriggs
Woman,
I know you.
I know how that thing
when left unattended
will show up as a typhoon
at your front door
demanding to be let in
or it will take
the whole damn house with it.
I know this place too.
I get it.
read the rest here
****************************
* If you like Key and Peele, these make me laugh. (I know LaShawn is a lot, but I was the sort of person to have themed days when my kids were growing up, haha!)
Reflections on the Teche has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Margaret!
12 comments:
Tabatha, what a great post. What a great way to clean out your mind from the news. I haven't stopped to read all the poems just yet, but I have them all open and will be reading them all for more cleansing.
"someone I love is ill and I am keeping a bedside vigil"--and there is no one more vigilant and gentle against illness than you, Tabatha. Thank you for these voices. Not all of them are grandmothers, but look at this idea, which is new to me this week despite some version of it having been around since 1957. Interesting that the best explanation of it comes from this guy: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EwvAir5wY/
Happy birthday, Tab!! And oh that Lucille, her words never fail to inspire: everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed. YES. thank you! xo
Thanks for these strong voices to carry us forward! Wishing you warm Birthday Greetings as you travel around again this year! 🌷🎉xox. And thanks for this rich post and these lines,
“Sweet is it, sweet is it
To sleep in the coolness
Of snug unawareness.”
Thanks for the birthday wishes! Michelle, those lines made me think about how much he/they are against being "woke." It seems like they really would prefer to sleep, unaware.
Tabetha, Happy Birthday! You deserve a rest from the heaviness of the battle. Enjoy! All the ongoing struggles will be here tomorrow!
Wonderful poems! The poem about truth reminded me of a statement I heard at the CT Forum last night. “The objective of repeated lies is to create a sense of nihilism in the populus – the sense that there is no truth.”
We will all keep fighting for truth.
I've never seen that Bianca Lynne Spriggs poem before... I'm printing it and sticking it in my folder of poem treasures. Thank you!
Thanks for all of this, but especially, since I WAS that woman this week, for "To the woman..." I feel so seen. Here's to birthday celebrations and BALANCE (whatever that is or might be someday)!!
I really get that feeling of watching a sick loved one. Man, it's rough right now...I want to stop watching. But, I care too much about my nation to do that. I pray that we can survive. What a great bunch of poems. That last one, 'Woman, I know you.' Whew...that takes my breath away with the truth of it.
First, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Dearest Tabatha! You DO take some time off and enjoy yourself and the glorious, generous human you are!!
Thank you for these poems - "Learning to Read" made me think of several visits I took to the Penn Center on the Sea Islands when we lived in Beaufort. All these words, so powerful. xo
Happy Birthday, Tabatha! And thanks for sharing all the poetry goodness.
Things are beginning to hit really close to home. Poets offer comfort and resolve so that we can move forward. Thanks for posting and keeping us focused on words of praise and resistance. Happy Birthday!
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