Author: whodeanny

Tomorrow Longs to See

This is among the most 'positive' poems included in Myths. And it's mostly true.

I’m looking towards the future

At peace and justice

Freely given

Joyously received

Setting my faith

On the world we’re building

The world

Tomorrow longs to see

© Gayle Force Press 2009

The Rainbow Sign

This is one of the few poems I have written (and liked) that uses a straightforward rhyming scheme. I think it fits. This is also one of the few poems inspired by both the Bible and James Baldwin. It appears in MOSAIC. 

Noah did not imagine

What his wooden ark would find

Of life he could be certain

Not so of the rainbow sign

The cleansing water fallen

An act of the great divine

Who spared the righteous Noah

And gave him the rainbow sign

God made a new beginning

Saying all the earth is mine

And sealed it with a promise

Bound up in the rainbow sign

 

 

© Gayle Force Press 2003

Momentary Transformation

I expected this poem to be in Myths. It didn't make the cut.

 

Each moment

Deserves the special place of privilege

We hesitate to allow

Ourselves to acknowledge

For since we are not gods

It must stay unknown to us

In which of these moments

Our lives will be transformed

This is the power of the sacred

And the sacrality within each of us

That our lives and world may be changed

In the blink of our human eyes

© Gayle Force Press 2004

Killing Mercy

 

The quality of mercy is not strained

Not in this place

Not in this age

 

Mercy no longer exists

For us

 

Only force, power, control, domination, hegemony

 

What is real is not pretty

To anyone

 

So Mercy is still a name

Given to children

By ignorant parents

 

 

© Gayle
Force Press 2002

Reason #255 I love Minnesota

Last night the Twins
played a home game against the White Sox, the team that is probably their
biggest rival. Last year, the teams tied after 162 games and the White Sox won
the tiebreaker game so they made the playoffs and the Twins had to go home. This
year, they are competing for a single playoff spot again. The Twins never have
any money and have lost some of their best players because of finance while the
Sox play in Chicago and have lots of money. Okay, that’s a little background.

 

Last week, the Sox pitcher
Mark Buehrle pitched a perfect game which means no one reached base against him
for the whole game. Last night, he continued that streak for a few innings
setting a major league record for most consecutive batters retired.

 

When the streak ended, the
Twins fans gave Buehrle a prolonged standing ovation. In lots of cities there
would have been polite applause with a few scattered fans standing but this was
a broad, sustained, almost complete standing ovation for the opposing pitcher.

 

Yep, Reason #255.

 

 

TP

Full Moon Fever


The program I intended to watch last night, Real Wolf Kids, was not at
all what I expected. I thought it would be about feral kids that were (at least
metaphorically) raised by wolves. Uh, no. It was about kids that have a
physical disorder that overgrows hair. It was closer to Teen Wolf than The Wild
Child. 


TP

GatesGate- Part 1



Yes, this is the appropriate name for the Henry Louis Gates Jr.
arrest controversy. It would (might) help us see how ridiculous we are in
denoting everything that interests as a crisis. 

I have been
asked my opinion on this whole fiasco by several folks so here it is. 

First- Yes, I
think there's a racial component to the arrest. Gates was clearly in his own
home and was clearly no physical threat to the officer. Small, crippled, middle-aged folks should not be intimidating to young, armed police officers. I have
not heard any suggestions as to why Sergeant Crowley felt it necessary to arrest
Gates. I know that he chose to do so but I still do not know why he thought it
necessary. 

Here's a simple thought experiment: Replace Skip Gates with Bill Gates at the front door in Cambridge and what do you think happens?

Second- Were I
arrested instead of Skip Gates, the story might make the local news. Maybe.
There would be no hue and cry. I'd tell folks about it and we'd shake our
heads, curse the police and go do the next thing on our list. It is only
because of his stature that this has become a media event. Sad but true.

More below… 

TP 

GatesGate- Part 2

Third- The President's comments were unhelpful but
correct. Arresting someone in his own home even though he has committed no
crime is stupid. Clearly it’s stupid. In the US today though, there is very
little effort to find the right answer in public discourse. Instead the thrust
is to find the angle that helps you gain the most. So instead of asking if the
President were correct, most of the attention has focused on his word choice.

 

Fourth- The police organizations that united
yesterday to loudly complain (basically) that the President has turned his back
on law enforcement looked silly. Calling a stupid arrest stupid should hardly
have broader implications even if you’re the President. Gaining attention,
money and public sympathy was all these groups could have hoped to achieve. There
was no public safety agenda here. The focus was on the word ‘stupidly’ not
thoughtful policing or constructive resolution. Sargeant Crowley seemed stunned
by the whole thing almost as though he were strapped to the lead car of a
roller coaster. I hope he gets more than one beer when he meets with President
Obama and Professor Gates, he's gonna need it. 

 

Finally, do any of us think that this situation will
keep me from getting the 'random' extra security check at the airport? (Yes, my
beard is close to maximum length right now; it's been a challenging summer.)
Will there be fewer groups planning to assassinate President Obama? Will Black
suspects be kinder and gentler to police officers? Will there be a surge in
support for affirmative action? Will there even be a wave of police departments
across the country creating diversity or sensitivity training programs? 

 

I doubt any long-term positives will happen as a
result of this incident. If there be any, I think they will come out of Skip
Gates’ new recognition that his race still counts more than it should. He may
begin to step away from his post-racial analysis a bit and I think that could
be constructive for his work. (Here’s an excellent read on just how post-racial
Gates has been.)

 

No, this seems to me like another media frenzy such as Joe
the Plumber. Lots of sound and fury signifying nothing. See, I knew I’d have to
say a lot. A lot about a little.


TP 

Angel

This poem appears in MOSAIC. It is one of my most requested poems at readings.

 

Our little angel's fallen

From the heaven we created

Since we built her wings
 
Of steel and flesh and bone
 
 

It looks as though she's chosen to fly
 
A little lower than we'd hoped
 
Though now we know
 
Her wings have always been too heavy
 
And heaven was never her home anyway

© Gayle Force Press 2003