Risen

This was an especially tough holy week in the US- so much misery and unrest especially surrounding gun violence. I was moved by the two black men and one white woman in TN house and all those they represent and the young people gathered in the state capitol demanding common sense changes to our laws. Yet what struck me the most were the faces of the republicans who in lock step expelled the two black representatives, an obvious demeaning dismissal of them along racial and political lines. This was another inflection point for our nation and with it, some good trouble that may have unintended consequences for the Republicans. 


This week, a holy one
Where fiery images on TV blare
and legislative bills shoot with rapid fire aim,
locked and loaded
state by state
outrageously searching for answers
to nonexistent problems,
stripping away the rights of those
with more to lose
and with it ripping apart the very fabric of
who
we
are….
 
A festering unease turns to unrest
until it boils over
Arms raised
The Tennessee 3
Walk into the well, one by one
Pleading their case for who?
For freedom,
democracy,
For the very right to exist?
With a target on their backs
They carry a message that embodies
A cacophony of screams
from the collective that sent them there
an echo begging to heard
the true will of the people.
 
Let us go!
Let us be free from these chains
of modern-day slavery
from the shackles of inequity,
of fear, confusion and complacency
hog-tied by the dark monies gathered in the belly of the NRA
and wrapped in the shadows of inherent racism
that no longer lay dormant
Oh no, those old ghosts surely rise again
sheets now removed
these white men and women
blind faith in their own purity flowing in their veins
for centuries now
they listen with scant toleration
on deaf ears
their judgement already sealed.
 
But now a chanting beat 
can no longer be ignored
younger generations, crying for change
Weary of years cowering under desks
Begging to be seen
an unwilling army forced to the front lines
since birth
No more thoughts and no more prayers,
please
They’ve had enough this blasphemy!
Their roaring grows louder
No more sacrificial lambs
A symphonic demand for a release
from these insane and arcane
systems of bondage
will no longer stand.
 
On this holy weekend that marks Easter,
It should not be lost on us all
what Jesus and his disciples
Knew to be
That after death,
The promise of rebirth anew
So roll that old stone away
And unveil the truth
Let us break through to a new state of enlightenment
for if we have any hope
to survive, thrive and
live in peace as we were created to be
The time for rising is now.