POEM: STILL RUNNING

photo by Alex Lear

 

 

 

STILL RUNNING

(meditations on integration)

 

1.

escaping plantations is not

simple

simply

a matter of running

away / for

to getaway successfully

 

you must not only run

from

but establish yourself

in 

 

the place

to which 

you run

 

somehow 

 

create a home

create community

some how

 

shape space

transform

the alien air

of here & now

where ever 

you are

 

into the welcoming

embrace

of home

 

 

2.

now that the big house

is on fire

and none of the world

is offering water

 

the progeny 

of our former masters

hang out welcome signs

and proclaim

we are all the same

 

we can even sleep

in their beds with them

if our amnesia is deep enough

 

the price of admission:

leave your soul at the door, preferably

outside, not even on the porch

but in the yard

the back

yard

 

now pledge

allegiance

to this system

your history does not

matter

 

that the jails are full

of us

does not matter

 

that our illnesses

are at record levels

does not matter

 

that we own less

have less wealth

than ten years after

slavery

does not matter

 

if we forget

who we were

who we are

does not matter

 

 

3.

when we think

the other

is our problem

 

we have become

our own problem

 

after all

aren’t we all

wayfaring pilgrims

just passing thru

 

a strange

land, all of us

in need

of a helping

hand?

 

 

4.

regardless

 

of what those who own

to live

tell you

 

you can only really own

whatever you brought

into this world

 

whatever you brought with

you is all that you can

take when you leave

 

 

5.

you can not escape

the plantation

 

if you are carrying

their architecture

 

in your head

in your heart

 

 

6.

some of us

run

 

away

 

some of us

run

 

towards

 

until we die

all of us

 

are

running

 

 

7.

zig zag

brother

 

reverse field

stutter step

skip, hop, & jump 

 

zig zag

sister

 

they’ll catch us

if we stand still

 

 

8.

our people

are our hills

—amilcar cabral

 

I think we should live

up in the hills

—burning spear

 

 

 

9.

no rest for the weary

 

believe

I’ll run

 

on and see

what tomorrow brings

 

 

—kalamu ya salaam