Courtesy of the Tulsa Historical Society and Museum
things to teach my son
Tulsa, June 1, 1921
how to hold the line at first street. no escape
how to tramp backyard gardens
how to s...
Crystal Z Campbell, Notes from Black Wall Street (Soft, Receptive, and Absolute), 2019, mixed media on wood, 30 x 20 inches / Courtesy of the artist
Can a weed be humble
bashful, sen...
Photo by Greg Rakozy / Unsplash
You cannot see the Mothership in space,
It and She being made of the same thing.
All our mothers hover there in the ceaseless
blue-black, watching it ripple a...
Greenwood, by Jimmy Friday, 24 x 36 in. Magazine clippings on poster board.
It was the day of brutal winds, all of them ganging up to blow injustice down. They sang the changing weath...
Courtesy of the Greenwood Cultural Center
Lord, he was born a pesky question. Know
he always wore the danger hour of dusk.
The white folks named his skin impossible.
He teetered, balanced o...
“Chinese Factory” by danielfoster437 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Chinese Workers
I am a Chinese worker
Our revolutionary comrades are found in every
corner of the Earth
Perhaps con...
I settle my body and soul down in this small town
Its lychee orchards, its streets
A little deck in the assembly line
The rain wets my head, again and again
I rest my ideals, love, dreams, and yo...
Photo by K. Mitch Hodge / Unsplash
Fingertips
Can you feel how the tips of my fingers
vibrate in a scream?
I am a simple woman of autumn,
flesh tanned from the end of summer
leaves me long...
Photo by Samuel Scrimshaw / Unsplash
[Untitled]
We lived on the edge of a poisonous swamp
black alligators bathed in it
every morning the exhaust tubes clamored
and at n...
Caption
We received our Canadian citizenship
at the immigration office
between Costco and the highway.
For the ceremony we were asked
to turn off our phones. We raised our right hand.
Swo...
Photo by Barbara Zandoval on Unsplash
A Poem for Nitzan
I smuggled you across the border, that no hand
of those who find joy in their labor might touch you
no hand of those dealing
in bl...
Paul Klee, Angelus Novus, 1920, oil transfer and watercolor on paper, 31.8 x 24.2 cm, Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Angelus Novus
On Friday nights, when the family’s asle...
Photo by Sean Thomas / Unsplash
return
oh, that fish could swim through my garden again!
Stately as whale sharks, speckled pacifists,
or goldfish freed from small glass domes...
What is the reason for your visit, Embera Wera?1
You’ve walked fourteen hours through the muddy night,
you’ve crossed an entire mountain range to see me,
even knowing the demon moana la...
Ebony and ivory / Photo by Blondinrikard Fröberg / Flickr
for Lida Berberian
I remember when I couldn’t read music;
The pile of unfamiliar books lay listless;
my hands glided across...
Photo by Quinn Dombrowski / Flickr
Colonists
Over there in that urban landscape
where two trees are barely distinguishable,
decades ago there was a river
overwhelming and s...
Photo: Alonso Sambolín, “Revolution”
Juggling Urban Psychosis
The cage has turned into a bird
and it has flown away
my heart has lost its mind
– Alejandra Pizarnik
We set free bir...
Caption
Improvisewalking along the Piedras River, January 25, 2020
improvising by the Río Piedras resume the fibers of my voice
years have gone by since I named cli...
José Ángel Vega Ortiz, Casi-banderas (Almost-flags), 2018, woodcut on paper, 14 x 17 in.
Don’t Suicide
All the roads lead to you,
but be careful with all the bumps o...
Damaris Cruz, Fuego Camina Conmigo, @damalola / Courtesy of the artist
(note for a friend who wants to commit suicide after the hurricane)
no one teaches us to accept death because de...
Photo: Anahi Martinez / Unsplash
Then My Daughter
Turned to her toys and said
the first to realize
will be those who watch over the air;
those who survive
will stay away...
Photo: Giancarlo Revolledo / Unsplash
Limbo
One day I placed a rock on top of your name
and I said to myself: I’ll go singing all the way home.
And I sang
like a wild woman...
Photo by Paul Gilmore / Unsplash
The Clock of the Long Now will operate knowing it will lose the correct time, exposed as it will be to imprecise temperatures, stellar and solar alignments, te...
Photo: jamesjustin / Flickr
Open House: Riverside Fujimi Town #103,
two rooms with wooden flooring
and a small finished basement.
A ninety-eight-square-foot basement
with no windows,
no c...