A poem a day for 2013 - day 310 - Good. And.

I am thankful this morning
Even still
Still I am thankful
There is news
So much news about murdered children
Brown faces
Bodies missing
I will be thankful this morning
I will
Still
I will hold on
For the mother
The father
Who cannot today
I will lift my head
Will spread my arms
And still my heart
I will bare feet in grass
Breathe in new air
Renisha McBride
Renisha McBride
I will whisper her name on my walk
I will pray strength for her family
Detroit
Murdered
Car accident
Dead cell phone battery
White neighborhood
She knocked on a door for help
Was shot in the head
It is too early for my heart to break
In this many ways
There is good in the world
Haven't you heard that before
Haven't I said that before
There are flowers
There is still ocean and moon
There is good in the world
There are things and people to be thankful for
And there is this too

Dear God

This morning I logged on to Facebook and one of the first pictures I saw was one of a beautiful African - American young woman and then I read this:

"Last Saturday morning at around 2:30am 19-year-old Renisha McBride got into a car accident in Dearborn Heights, a predominately whiteDetroit suburb. Because her cell phone battery was dead, she went to nearby home for assistance. That might seem like the reasonable and understandable thing to do, but it was the biggest mistake of McBride's short life.

The unnamed person who answered the door didn't offer to help the stranded teen out, instead the Dearborn Heights resident fatally shot McBride in the head.

Weirdly, Dearborn Heights police initially told McBride’s family that her body was found dumped in another area of town, but they've since changed their story, saying she was shot in self-defense on the homeowner’s front porch. Naturally, Michigan is a Stand Your Groundstate — sound familiar?

As Rania Khalek points out:

Even if that’s the case, and there’s reason to believe it’s not, the shooter still failed to call 911 after shooting an unarmed woman in the head, instead leaving her their to die. Does that sound like the behavior of a law-abiding gunowner who made a tragic mistake?

No. No it does not.

Police have asked Wayne County Prosecutor's Office for charges to be filed against the unnamed resident who shot McBride. We'll see how well that pans out.

[Rania Khalek, The Detroit News]"

Gratitude

I am thankful today that I had a wonderful photo shoot with a good friend
I am thankful for being reminded how blessed I am
I am thankful for parks and waterfalls and backyards
I am thankful for easy easy important conversations
I am thankful for words
With friends

Prayer for my son

I pray protection for my son
For his feet
For his hands and mind
For his beautiful dark skin that covers his long body
I pray his happiness
His joy
His glee
I pray his be is peace
His thoughts clear
His gait steady and focused
I pray God and the ancestors guide his steps
In righteousness
Truth
Integrity
Justice
I pray his energy pure
His heart always open
Listening
Accepting
Obedient
To You
In the name of Jesus
In the name of all holy

And so it is

A poem a day for 2013 - day 309 - This. One. Body.

I love collages
I tape pictures of Oprah's head and paste it the middle of a school of fish
Right under my feet and paddling hands
I tear out photos of the sun
Paste them over the freckles on my face
I cut letters, commas, ellipses to decorate the sky
Black, blue, red, you
We are all tangled and glued in the space together
We are all swimming to level for pockets of air
Elbowing our way to the front to see if God still cares
When will we get it
How nothing I am without knowing
How something you are too

My feature at Da Poetry Lounge

http://new.livestream.com/accounts/991330/events/1562228/videos/32347755

Last month I was featured at Da Poetry Lounge. I tried to post the link to the actual feature but my tech skills took me as far as posting only the link to the site. If you watch enough videos you will see me eventually. Mine is the one with Kevin Sandbloom at the beginning of the show. My set is at the end of show. Anyway, if you miss me completely I hope you watch a few of the videos because some pretty awesome poets are saying really amazing things.

Enjoy.

In-Q at Da Poetry Lounge

NaNoWriMo - day 6 - New things on my to get list

1. A computer. Because mine went to shit and I lost all of my information. Yes, photos and all. And now I have to go to Long Beach to edit photos on my mom's computer and if you know my mom, she's on her computer.

2. A music stand. Because the medication I'm on is causing my hand to shake a bit and I refused my doctor's advice on taking medication to stop that. And I need to hold papers and a notebook on stage without looking like I'm brand new at this thing called performance poetry.

3. A video camera. Because I want to video stories of interesting people. I know so many. I try to do it on my iPad but I can only post up to six minutes. I want whole conversations about life and roller coasters and peanut butter and jelly sandwich habits in the middle of the night.

4. Money. I have bills due like crazy but numbers 1, 3 and some others will take care of that. 

5. I want my audiobook completed. The engineers I'm working with are super badass and it will be done soon. They are on the final steps and, well, soon. 

6. Tights in any color size 2xl and UGG (ish) boots size 10 women's any color.  Because that gear makes me feel comfortable and fly.

7. Plants. Just because.

8. A new phone. Because the Metro phone I'm using no longer provides GPS. Who thought that was a good idea?

9. Socks. Funky colors. Because I just can't have enough.

10. Moments to be thankful and take in more moments. I am so thankful that trivial things like this are on my to get list. 

NaNoWriMo - day 5 - Tonya Ingram at Da Poetry Lounge

Because I'm celebrating NaNoWriMo my way this year. I'm finding snippets of story in my day and posting. Yes, doing A Poem a Day for 2013 buys me that right. Do you.

Yay

Check me out this week at Citizensofculture.com

A poem a day for 2013 - day 308 - Power

Good morning. Because it is. It is, you know, good and morning. Good by choice. Isn't it a blessing that we get to choose the morning good or not? And at the same time the morning is neither good nor bad. It just is. This day will be what it will be regardless of our choosing. Only our feelings are reflected in our choice. Only how we respond to the day. That is what will make this moment a yes or no. Only choosing.

A poem a day for 2013 - day 307 - I. Will.

I dare myself to love myself better than I have before
To unfold myself and pull out pain and lovely
I have been afraid
To look heavy into my own eyes for too long
But I am a grown er woman now
To be beautiful, truly beautiful is a dare, a choice you know
Every moment I choose
Every reflection I choose
Me
Again
Even if