By Fire

Peace or Piece (Haiku)

Should we hold our peace?

Or maybe we should hold our piece.

Pick one, peace or piece.

I am Woman, He is Man

Shifting sands to changing plans

Gentle nurturing and helping hands

A beautiful smile and a beautiful stance

Glints of sparks in a glance

Creative and universal advance

Intricate patterns created not by chance

Healing and understanding in an instance

No sad song, not just romance

But love in a vibrational dance

I am Woman, He is Man.

Nothing Without Something

There is no appreciation of life without death

No appreciation of love without hate

No appreciation of light without dark

No appreciationof the moon without the sun

No appreciation of pleasure without pain

No flower can grow and bloom without both sun and rain

You wouldn't be different if we were the same

No appreciation of you leaving when you never came.

King

Steadfast, not obstinate

Confident, not arrogant

Unshakeable and unfallable

All masculine, unmalleable

Protector, provider

A lover and a fighter

A King among kings

Leader of lords

He knows when to pick up and lay down his sword

He speaks less than he listens

Yet his words have weight

He envisions and makes his own fate

I follow his vision

He's destined to be great.

Our souls are whole and he's my soul mate.

No Words

Dedicated to the loving memory of my mother-in-love, Hattie Pearl Higgins. May you rest in paradise Queen.

What do you do when the words won't come?

You know, sometimes you have the rhythm but all you can  do is hum.

What do you do when the words are stuck in your throat?

Bottled up emotions that get your goat.

How do you say all the  things you are feling when the hurt from the loss leaves you reeling?

You see, I am angry...no, not that.

Confused...no, not that.

I'm lost in an abyss of wordlessness.

How do you describe what this hurt is?

Yeah, I know I am using words right now,

but they are the imprecision of the one's I can't get out.

Dearly Imparted

I was imparted upon as a youth to stand for something or I would fall for anything.

I was imparted upon as a youth to never say what I could not do, but to ask how to do it.

I was imparted upon as a youth to respect myself and others, and there were levels to this thang.

I was imparted upon as a youth to judge a person by their actions and their character, not by the stories told by others.

I was imparted upon as a youth to understand that everyone makes mistakes; no one is perfect.

I was imparted upon as a youth to forgive, but also learn the lesson.

Purity Versus Dissonance

Heart free of hate.

Love free of conditions.

Understanding free of judgment.

Anger free of wrath.

Support free of expectation.

Touch free of pain.

My People

Walk in light, love in your skin.

Equal to the stars at night;

In the sun, our beautiful Black glistening.

Hitting life's curve balls,

taking it on the chin and still winning.

There's nothing more intimidating 

than confidence in Black men and women.

Achieving despite lack, moving forward

while being held back for being Black.

Our deadliest weapons are our minds. 

Our worst crimes are wasting our time.

Anything created and stolen,

can be recreated and bettered.

Changing societies as a whole,

not just as trend setters.

Beware the disruptions of our greatness

via distance, stolen linguistics, imaginary fences

by the masters of politics.

My people, keep up the resistance.

Division

It really ain't the skin difference between you and me that creates division among people

It is greed

It is the undermining of one leader by another

It's the rich undermining the poor

Bosses undermining leaders

Men undermining women

Women undermining men

Adults undermining children

Communities, governments and schools undermining youth

Drug companies undermining good health

The selfish undermining the selfless

Humans undermining nature.

Unhealed wounds that are passed down through generations

Lies and untruths, omissions of the truth and manipulations of reality, secrets, and shame.

Divided and conquered.

Dark vs Light

So sad, a person so filled with spite

yea, you know the type

who will knock over yo' sh*t

just so they can start a fight

ready and willing to muck up yo' life

you know, they always pick wrong over right

bringing nothing but strife

casting shadows on yo' light

putting shades to hide yo' bright

'cause they can't stand yo' light

from the wolf, who's game tight

ready with weight to keep you from flight

lust, never love, disguised delight

they gots lows to cancel yo heights

avoid the trap with all yo' might

they'll bring the dark versus your light