poetry

twice the bang for my buck

twice the bang for my buck

for one year
I’ve been reading Howard Zinn with friends
slogging through endless accounts
of the machine’s extreme indifference
grappling with the incalculable odds anyone is up against
when demanding decency
getting schooled in
the countless pretenses for war

it’s been a hard go
but here’s what I’ve gathered:
oppose war always
support unions unequivocally
demand accountability
take care of one another
hope is all we have

today the United Food and Commercial Workers
International Union Local 7
sent my donated Hardship money back
saying since the strike was short and sweet
they don’t need it after all
but, since I managed to part with it once,
they invite the 850 of us who gave
$55,000 total
to send those dollars right back out again
to others in need

I tear up and grin when I read this –
this is how Zinn and I believe
we are supposed to live:
taking what we need
giving back the rest
helping someone else
when our ledger’s in the black

I surely don’t do enough
keep way too much for my hypothetical rainy day
but this time I’m so glad
to let this money work its magic twice

now these ones and zeroes are snaking
their way through cyberspace
ready to be a drop in the bucket
a Marshall Fire survivor needs

poetry

ancestors

ancestors

we are here
and we see you

each one of us trailed
by our ancestors’ shadows
radiating out from our small souls
like spokes from a turning wheel
like the infinite bodies extending
away from ours
in the dressing room mirror

when we speak
echoes of their beliefs rattle
through the drums of our chests
we are never alone
with us they say
in their own silent tones
we are here
and we see you