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

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

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

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."

Sunrise... a poem

Sunrise

I have finally awakened
to sun rays streaming through my windows
beaming on my face
warming my brown skin
hot cocoa on a cold night in.

the light replaced the darkness
it cut through the shadows
brightened the blue-black sky to a golden peach
sweet as the juice on a summer day.

Hope is that ball of fire
burning from the heavens
commanding the night to flee
and dreams to be realized.

I look to the sun
and reach high to the cumulus clouds
I listen to the quiet morning
where night terrors are no more
And the day is waiting.

~cdw~
11/26/13

Say Goodbye to the Air ... a poem

Say Goodbye to the Air

Only one or two more days until
time stands at the station corner – still.
And waits to board that midnight train
leaving Georgia and traveling to North Carolina again.
Until that day, I will patiently sit
and wait for a phone call that I’ll never get –
the call where you bid farewell to me here,
but I know you won’t, so I’ll say goodbye to the air

and hope it finds you there.

~cdw~
February 2009

unspeakable joy ... a poem

unspeakable joy 

when i can't sit still
and my hands begin to wave
my arms start to flail

my right foot stomps the church floor

that's unspeakable joy

the pounding from the floor

echos the pounding in my chest

I've been standing for an hour

but my legs won't stop shaking

the energy of unspeakable joy

i lift my left hand to the steeple

point my index finger to the heavens

tears blur my vision

leaving streaks on my cheeks 

trails of unspeakable joy

when I do lift my voice

it's more like a wail
a cry out to God

a moaning sacrifice of self

sounds of unspeakable joy

words can't tell it

songs can't sing it

stories can't share it

but you can see it

in the trembling lips

the rosy nose

the stained cheeks
the watery eyes

the furrowed brow

the sweat-shiny hairline

that's unspeakable joy

~cdw~
11/03/13