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Author Archives: Dale Shields

I WAKE UP… by Angela Winborn

April 4, 2020 Poetry Comments Off on I WAKE UP… by Angela Winborn
I WAKE UP… by Angela Winborn

 

I wake up in the Bahamas,

                                   which is my bedroom,

then eventually I travel down to London in the living room. 

                                              Eventually, I make my way to Detroit( dining room ) 

                                                                                                and then travel to Kentucky to get some good home-cooked- meals.

 

Sometimes, but not often, I’ll travel to Denver

because it’s a little cooler down there in the basement

and last, but not least

 

I come back to the Bahamas and rejuvenate, until the next sunrise.”

~ I wake up.~ 

Angela Winborn

 

 

@Iforcolor.org
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED {Angela Winborn}

 

Guitar play me fine by Mary Seymour

August 25, 2019 Poetry Comments Off on Guitar play me fine by Mary Seymour
Guitar play me fine by Mary Seymour

Movement impulse feeling in the hands.    

old|young|tired|hands music guitar talks

don’t need to play just close my eyes and

fingers fly close my eyes play this play

that see I don’t’ play guitar

guitar plays

me fine! Fine.

Guitar play me fine music just come don’t know how.

 

Music just come just close my eyes and fingers fly just close my eyes and fingers fly smilin’, rocin’ and clapp’n in time see fingers fly starts to sings a new song close my eyes singing this time.

 

words just come don’t know how words just come don’t care how guitar say slow, guitar say go guitar plays me Fine! Fine!

guitar plays me Fine! Fine! Fine!

MARY SEYMOUR  All rights reserved (c) Mary Seymour – [Iforcolor.org] NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED

 

Choose|Chose by Mary Seymour

August 12, 2019 Poetry Comments Off on Choose|Chose by Mary Seymour
Choose|Chose by Mary Seymour

Me
Mary Seymour
Choose|Chose

 

Choose|Chose

 

 

i chose to believe whatever i chose to believe

I choose not to care what you think about this poem interesting? For feelings are me. This totally unique member of humankind

chosen to be on this planet for one second at this time don’t want to rhyme i choose to choose to use this time as wisely as wise

i chose not to blame my parents, husband, children or grandchild for what I will or will not achieve in life.

i choose to see the beauty in everything that is beautiful determined by my standard and not others

not others

i choose to get excited and smile when music takes over for one moment I choose to be proud of Black Skin and Kinky Hair

I choose to embrace the history of my ancestors with love and respect

I choose to liberate what I chose from the layers of conditioning that has been imposed on choosing.

i choose to be the a educated Black woman understanding the complexity of my blackness.

when I choose I chose not to impress just write what’s right for me.

i choose to love the energy of honest love

i choose to write and write until I write the chosen truths in my soul

maybe the first step I choose to believe. 

 

 

All rights reserved (c) Mary Seymour [Iforcolor.org] NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED

 

 

 

 

 

I, Too by Langston Hughes

July 24, 2019 Poetry Comments Off on I, Too by Langston Hughes
I, Too by Langston Hughes

I, Too

by Langston Hughes 

I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—
I, too, am America.
NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED 

I LIKE – I HATE by Lorraine Hansberry

July 24, 2019 Poetry Comments Off on I LIKE – I HATE by Lorraine Hansberry
I LIKE – I HATE by Lorraine Hansberry

Lorraine Hansberry singing. Photograph by Molly Malone Cook, circa 1957-1958.

 

I LIKE

Mahalia Jackson’s music
My husband — most of the time
dressed up
being admired for my looks
Dorothy Secules eyes
Dorothy Secules
Shakespeare
Having an appetite
Slacks
My homosexuality
Being alone
Eartha Kitt’s looks
Eartha Kitt
That first drink of Scotch
To feel like working
The little boy in “400 Blows”
The way I look
Certain flowers
The way Dorothy Talks
Older Women
Miranda D’Corona’s accent
Charming women
And/or intelligent women

I HATE

Being asked to speak
Speaking getting
Too much mail
My loneliness
My homosexuality
Stupidity
Most television programs
What has happened to Sidney Poitier
Racism
People who defend it
Seeing my picture
Reading my interviews
Jean Genet’s plays
Jean Paul Sartre’s writing
Not being able to work
Death
Pain Cramps
Being hung over
Silly women
As silly men
David Suskind’s pretensions  
Sneaky love affairs.

 

Lorraine Hansberry, 1959. Photograph by David Attie. (National Portrait Gallery)

 

NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED 

My PRESIDENT

July 18, 2019 Poetry Comments Off on My PRESIDENT
My PRESIDENT

I listened as they called my President a Muslim.
I listened as they called him and his family a pack of monkeys.

I listened as they said he wasn’t born here.
I watched as they blocked every single path to progress that they could.

I saw the pictures of him as Hitler.
I watched them shut down the government and hurt the entire nation twice.
I watched them turn their backs on every opportunity to open worthwhile dialog.
I watched them say that they would not even listen to any choice for Supreme Court no matter who the nominee was.

I listened as they openly said that they will oppose him at every turn.
I watched as they did just that.
I listened.
I watched.
I paid attention.

Now, I’m being called on to be tolerant.
To move forward.
To denounce protesters.
To “Get over it.”
To accept this…

{Author Unknown}

*

Let’s all take a moment to remember those Presidents who carried out their duties even when water fell from the sky.”

 

“You Matter. You Count.” – President Barack Obama walks with mentees on the South Lawn of the White House, Oct. 14, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

“Sorry” Memory 2017

June 16, 2019 Poetry Comments Off on “Sorry” Memory 2017
“Sorry” Memory 2017

“Sorry” Memory 2017
               by Lisa Kaelen

 

“Sorry” Memory 2017

I’m sorry that a Congressman was shot.

 

 I’m sorry other people got shot at that baseball practice.

 

  I’m sorry that Trayvon Martin was shot.

 

   I’m sorry that those Amish schoolchildren were shot.

 

    I’m sorry that Gabby Giffords was shot.

 

     I’m sorry that the Aurora theater victims were shot.

 

      I’m sorry the kids at Sandy Hook Elementary were shot.

 

I am sorry those kids at Columbine got shot.

 

 I’m sorry everyone at the Pulse got shot.

 

  I’m sorry that Congress voted to allow mentally ill people guns.

 

                          I am sorry my neighbors got shot and killed.

 

     I am sorry that man in the car who told the cop he was carrying legally got shot.

 

I am sorry Black men are at risk of getting shot every single day.

 

 I am sorry the governing bodies don’t see fit to keep domestic abusers from owning guns.

 

  I’m sorry that the NRA means more to Republicans than anyone’s child.

 

                           I’m sorry that Congress didn’t extend the assault rifle ban.

 

    I’m sorry that you can get a gun while on the no-fly list. I’m sorry that you can take a gun into a bar.

 

     I’m sorry that people would rather send their thoughts and prayers instead of actually doing something.

 

       I am sorry our Congress is gutless to pass any meaningful gun control.

 

I’m sorry people think the writers of the bill of rights were thinking about automatic weapons when they wrote the second amendment.

 

I’m sorry that we are all so desensitized to violence in our country that everyone’s first question is, who did the perpetrator vote for?

 

    I’m sorry that there is such a stigma regarding mental health.

 

                  Until we actually make changes, all any of us are ever going to be is sorry.

 

All rights reserved


(c) Lisa Kaelen 

NO COPYRIGHT INFRIGMENT INTENDED 

 

She is… ( Who Am I )

May 25, 2019 Poetry Comments Off on She is… ( Who Am I )
She is… ( Who Am I )
She is… by Aki’a Damone Lashon Hodges 
She is…
She is… 
The White sheep of the Black flock
Ostracized, ridiculed – damaged
yet not broken 
Smiling she embraces the world
Finding joy in the sorrows of tomorrow
She is the victim – or is she the survivor?
Damaged goods – you could say
There came a day four wall if ice
Encased the flesh of her heart – something
She still pretends beats in a chest that remains 
frozen 
Mama – Mama – Silence is mama’s only reply 
She is damaged not broken
Forever standing tall in the light of God
Father of Creation – Father to my Salvation
She bleeds tears of sorrow that reflect the Black depths of her frozen heart
Yet – here – right here – in this moment
She remains trapped
By the promises of yesterdays and the uncertainties of tomorrow
She is… 

Aki’a Damone Lashon Hodges