Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Moving Day ... a poem

Moving Day

Packed up all my bags
Boxed up all my belongings
Started to take old keepsakes
but stopped as I recalled the memories:
I can't take the heartache
I must leave the lies
I gotta trash time wasted
and donate indecision

I kicked fear to the curb
as the movers arrived--
the professionals, the friends, the wise ones who have moved on before--
and they helped me carefully carry only the things that mattered

I've found a new home--
The rooms are filled with peace
Contentment's in the carpet
Happiness is in the hardwood
Laughter's in the hallways, the yard
Courage is its curb appeal

I won't put old wine in new wineskins
Only the best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay

I'm on my way to restoration
It's on the other side of moving day.

-cdw-
1/18/16

Clips & Clicks ... a poem

Clips & Clicks
I couldn't watch the video
I didn't want to see
bullets riddled in his back
The man stumble to his knees

I couldn't watch the playful child
Unsuspecting in the park
A bullet point blank in his head
His life fading to dark

Has violence become so normalized?
We feed off 15-second clips
of gunshot blasts and gunshot wounds
People dying, click after click

Has murder become so second nature?
We do not even flinch
to pull the trigger and kill a nigger
An automatic reflex

A simple flick of the wrist.

-cdw-
01/20/16

Sunday, March 22, 2015

I Praise You ... (a psalm)



I Praise You 
A psalm.

My Lord,
I praise You because You know me.
Like the sun knows when to rise in the morning
and when to set at day’s end,
You know the troubles of my heart
and the concerns of my mind.
I praise You because You have blessed me
with Your favor.
Just as parents show favor toward their children,
so I have found favor with You, Heavenly Father;
Your favor that guides and protects me from drama
and hurt.
I praise You because You have healed me –
my body, my broken heart, my restless mind,
just as You healed Job of his afflictions,
mended the heart of Hannah,
and granted wisdom to Solomon,
so You have blessed Your daughter
with an outpouring of Your peace.
I find refuge in You.
I praise You because You are my Master,
and the Master of us all,
whether we rule over a nation as David did
or provide refuge to the homeless,
You have ultimate control.
And although You sit high,
You have not forgotten me
Your lowly and humble servant.
All praises to You, oh God!

Amen.

~cdw~

07/19/07

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

the dichotomy ... a poem

the dichotomy

I struggle with
This land is not our home
but it's the only home we know

Dwelling in a forsaken land
unwanted for who we are
but exploited for economic benefit

Expected to combat violence
with peace
leaves me wondering when
there's a time for everything under the sun

Pondering when the God of Justice
will burn this place down -
as the flood drowned all evil
and the rainbow signified a new beginning -
From the ashes, rebirth will arise

Tonight, I write.
Tomorrow, I'll be in the streets
with my people
Surrounded by them

And now I realize Home is not a place
It never was
but Home is with the people I love.

~cdw~
11.26.14

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

the other way ... a poem

the other way

mine eyes search for the other way
Your Ways are higher than my ways
i'm praying for Your Will and Way
   my gaze rests on the other way

both eyes peer toward another way
with hopes to glimpse a better way
before my eyes are Your miraculous ways!
I blink -- and there's another way

wide-eyed, stare at a different way
to see You move in a peculiar way
with back-hand rubs, i clear the way
blurred vision dies to a different way

You are the Truth, the Life, the Way
look to the hills -- the other way
fleshly eyes imagine a logical way
sight by the spirit sees the other way

~cdw~
07.31.14

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Muse ... a poem

Muse

I want to 
make you sweat
Inspire the notes
that drop and drip
onto a music staff
Treble and tremble
'til you play a song 
motivated by me

I want to 
light the fire
Make you burn
red strokes of heat
across a bare canvas
yellows and oranges and golds
of wet paint that leak creativity
but dry as a masterpiece

I want to 
flip the switch
Create electric imagination
that courses through your veins
shocks your nerves
sparks your senses
and leaves your skin hot
with frenetic energy

I want to be the something
that produces anything
and becomes your everything

I want to be your muse.


~cdw~
03/25/14

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Stand... a poem.

Stand*

drowned in the Atlantic seas
chained and whipped on our knees
noose-tight rope, hanging from trees
blood on the ground
blood on the leaves

it seems some things will never change
bodies burned and bodies hanged
like target practice at a gun range
oh no, it's not murder
our black skin is to blame

are we yet tired of reasoning with the insane?
what do we really think we'll gain?
freedom to spend a little change?
they give us money today
tomorrow it's gone again

it's wisest to never argue with a fool
no use in obeying a corrupt rule
or voting for an oppressive tool
we cannot win
with a knife at a duel

we have no choice but to unite
to stand together as one and fight
and God Almighty stands with the right
we must not flee --
there's nowhere to take flight

with shoulders back and our pride tall
stand side by side, an unmovable wall
like brick and mortar, we cannot fall
we'll stand our ground --
they can't kill us all. 

~cdw~
02/16/14

*For Trayvon, Jordan and all of our sons and daughters who've lost their lives in "the land of the free and home of the brave."