America is not racist,

We just feel the need to let loose sometimes
And tell brown people they should go back
To where they came from
.
America is not racist,
We just feel the need to stop and frisk brown people
Demand that they produce their identification
And shoot them in the back when they try to comply.
America is not racist,
We just don’t think that brown people
Should live in our “gated communities”
,
Compete with us for jobs

Or go on dates with our daughters and sisters
.
America is not racist,
We’re all racist,
We all react to difference,
Real or perceived.
America is not racist,
We just let pink people do things
We would never let a brown person do

And call them whiners when they complain,
And tell them they got that position
Because they are brown

When it doesn’t fall to us.
America is not racist
We just fetishize our caricatures of brown lives
To magnify our own fear of the fantasy we have created.

To give us an excuse to pull that gun
To paint that swastika
On our own hearts,
To hang that noose
From the trees in our own home towns.

America is not racist,
We just dream dreams
Where brown men rape our daughters,
And brown women do our laundry,
And the unrecognized guilt
Drags those dreams kicking and screaming
To the range where we shoot targets
Wearing hoodies and baggy pants.

I’m telling you,
America is not racist.

State Capital building in Nashville  Tennessee
State Capital building in Nashville Tennessee

talking to travellers

one year older,
on that side of the curve
where this seems to be a good thing.
i will now do more,
or will i?

one year older,
on that side of the curve,
descending to a greater adventure,
gathering momentum
for a great leap,

that breathless leap,
constricted by fear,
tormented by a list
of works left undone

it’s ok.
we’ll be all right.
he is waiting for you
and he’ll be so much healthier
than your last memories of him.

it’s ok,
we love you,
we’ll miss and remember you
and i can’t wait to talk to you again
and hear the stories of your great adventure

go with love
brave explorer.
find the stars in their torment of creation,
find the angels in their endless watching,

you will be sure that
so much that you thought was so terribly important
wasn’t,
so much that you thought was empty and meaningless
was as precious as cold pure water

this is your cup.
it is full to the brim.
it is time to pass this cup
from one hand to another.

How to say Goodbye to a Loved One