'Speak on it' is a collection of poems I wrote that are politically oriented.
Excerpt
Fire and fear
I keep writing about the Tower’s
because this shit ain’t over yet
I write for the relatives of the dead
who wake up at night in a cold sweat
I write because this was predicted
in a Jewish book of prophesy
I’ll keep on writing until the people of the world
open up their eyes and see
that there’s a better way to resolve our differences
Non-violence has worked in many instances
I write because this shit is just too deep
I write for the new Yorkers that just can’t sleep
and worry every time they take a train
and get jumpy every time they hear a plane
I write for those that can’t get the images
out of their head
I write for those that still grieve over the dead
I write because some people think
that bombing is the only way
and I’ll keep on speaking against it
until Judgment Day
I’ll keep on writing against it
until Madeleine Albright apologizes for saying that
sanctions killing half a million Iraqi children
was a high price to pay but it was worth it?
The comment heard all around the world
Think half a million pissed off fathers
I write because Taliban soldiers
couldn’t wait to get
American blood on their hands
I write for the thousands of American kids
that came home to learn that they were orphans
I write for the fireman that had two more shifts
Before he would retire
I write for Johnny the fireman who dressed up as
Santa every year at the Christmas party
I write because this was a major disaster
Firemen digging for their own with their hands
through mounds of rubble, metal and plaster
I write because I’ve found it hard
to write about anything since
I write because the firemen
never found Mike, Tommy or Vince
I write for British born Ron
who made a cell-phone call to his wife
Before he died rescuing others he told her,
“You made my life”
Ron Rescorla, former lieutenant
and platoon leader in the Vietnam War
Once awarded the Silver Star for bravery
I write for Michael Cunningham
who spent only thirteen days
with his newborn baby
before his life was ended
The photos taken in those two weeks
of father and son
are all little Liam Cunningham will have
to remember his dad by
I write in the hope that I can decrease hate crimes
so that there’ll be no more victims like Adel Karas
Hardworking father of three kids
killed in his own store
I’ll keep writing until the government
stops arming brutal dictators
and suppressing their people
Somosa in Nicaragua
Batista in Cuba
Noriega in Panama
The Shah in Iran
I write for all the families
that attended funerals with empty caskets
I write for the five
that were the only ones pulled out alive
The songs and art in this book are about our collective emergence after the pandemic and trauma of the last few years - comprised of 5 collections: World as Refuge, Where We Live, In Our Hands, Rhythms of Change and What We See & Sow.
