Inspired

This week we are celebrating the work of Nikki Grimes. Thanks to Irene Latham for hosting this week: https://irenelatham.blogspot.com/2020/06/nikki-grimes-poetry-friday-roundup-is.html

Here is my poem inspired by Nikki Grimes, specifically from her work Bronx Masquerade:

I wake up and look out the window 

The city streets bustling

Change is on the horizon

My heart beats

I want to do more

I want transformation

I want community

I want to learn, to grow, to apologize

I want to own up

I want to keep myself accountable

This city buzzes with change

I want to be in it, not just watching through a window

Finding Common Ground

This conversation feels redundant

I feel stranded

I speak and try to communicate but I am stunned

The way you evade and saunter

Around things that make you feel unrest

You and I are separated by a tundra

You rattle off facts and dates

I discuss and try to change my tune

At odds, as is our natures

I hope we stop trying to unseat

I wish we turned

To reach a corner, a new trend

Where we talk and hear 

Listen to what is true

Seek to understand 

Dear Students

This is my Poetry Friday post. This week's host is https://reflectionsontheteche.com/2020/06/05/poetry-friday-letter-to-my-students/

Dear students

It is harder than ever to be away

There are so many things I wish I could say

There are so many moments I wish I had cherished

This is not the school year we planned

But still

You rose to the occasion

You did the work with patience, persistence, inquiry

I miss your faces

I miss your "Bonjours" in the hallway

I miss your coats in the lockers

I miss your telling me the latest songs, shows, artists

I hope for a better world

I pledge to fight for you

You all deserve it 

You deserve better

This isn't goodbye

It's only au revoir for now 

Understand

It's redundant to say

Stranded without knowledge

Daunted with difference in experience

Stunned by what is around us

Saddened and confused

Trends pass

I hope this moment is used well and not traded

The unrest is welcome

The page is turned

Sure our natures will unseat naysayers

Nurse wounds 

But stun with the tune of change and progress

Don't just rent a space

Duet to address what ails us 

Enough

This is my reflection on this week and inspired by this week's Poetry Friday host blog: https://readingyear.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-poetry-friday-roundup-is-here.html?showComment=1590773812825#c2658929847423992507

Enough

Enough is what I'm not doing

Enough is how others are feeling

Enough 

Not good

Not good that violence reels

Not good enough injustice prevails

Not good enough

Silence

is not enough

Ignoring

is not a solution

I must do more

Enough 

Chirp

Open window

Whoosh 

Cars rush by 

Chirp

An unfamiliar sound 

Chirp 

A sign of life

This is my Poetry Friday post. This week's host is Carol Varsalona  https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/

Time

Quarantine time 

E   X  T E N D S...

Daysblendtogether

Months pass

Some S L O W...

Some are filled with sadness

and loss

and fear

Some are cold 

and dreary

and have you on edge

Waiting

Waiting

Waiting

For change

For warmth

For hope

Then

Sun shines again

Cheers fill with joy

The tide seems to be changing

Time is healing