Skip to main content

We Need A Ladder

These times are 
so painfully difficult.
In my almost 62 years,
I had never seen
a person use 
a part of his body 
to kill another person.
Knees are
for prayer
not murder.

 How do we get out
of this deep hole
initially dug
400 years ago?
It was deepened
as its walls
were reinforced 
by each subsequent
privileged generation
taking great pride
in asking,
"How low
can we go?"

 It appears to be
a bottomless pit
with a stench
from four centuries
of dehumanization -
a stench worst
than the bowels
of the ships used
in the Middle Passage -
a deathly stench
offering only
an olfactory assault
denied by 
the pretenders.

When do they choose
to work with us
to build a ladder
strong and secure
to bring each of us
to a new level ground
with an abundance
of sunlight
and fresh air?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for reading Leslye's Labyrinth. I welcome your comments.

Popular posts from this blog

Why I Write on Race

No, this is not what I wanted to do.  I did not choose this as my path, but it is the path on which I journey. At this time of my life, it is the path that must be acknowledged and no longer resisted. A deep sigh reveals my coming to terms with the convergence of my lived experience, my gift of words, and this moment in time.  As a citizen of the United States dealing with the heinous and flawed construct of race is inevitable. To speak about it requires inner work that I wanted to avoid. Included in the work is one essential question. Has the racial system been designed to privilege or oppress people? While many of my fellow citizens may  deny that race is relevant to them and in their lives, for those of us who identify as Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), the truth of our nation's original sin is our lived experience. It is no secret. My parents sought to shield me and my siblings from the oppression that infiltrated our lives in an apartheid system. Even ...
6 comments
Read more

How Many Times

Before seeing a white man murder a handcuffed black man by kneeling on his neck in public, in broad daylight, how many times did you not believe perceived outrageous claims of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color because they were unfathomable to you?
Post a Comment
Read more

American Vias Dolorosa

The liturgical calendar of my Catholic tradition accompanies us through our lives in the ordinary times as well as in periods and on days of significance. During the solemn and holy days of Lent and the Triduum, respectively, we reenact the via dolorosa in the Stations of the Cross. Regardless of its size, the sanctuary of each Catholic parish will include a representation of the fourteen Stations. The prayerful process reflects on the sorrow and suffering of Jesus from his condemnation to death his death by capital punishment and burial in a tomb. His subsequent resurrection is celebrated on Easter Sunday.  While the Church's calendar reflects the highs and lows of ordinary life, our lived experience is not confined to this timeline. Experiences of suffering, death, and resurrection occur for each of us at varying times. The calendar may say that it is ordinary time, but as we accompany a loved one through the challenges of a terminal illness it is a period of sorrow.  With ...
Post a Comment
Read more