"Autobiographies of great nations are written in three manuscripts – a book of deeds, a book of words, and a book of art. Of the three, I would choose the latter as truest testimony." - Sir Kenneth Smith, Great Civilisations

"I must write each day without fail, not so much for the success of the work, as in order not to get out of my routine." - Leo Tolstoy

I have never believed that one should wait until one is inspired because I think the pleasures of not writing are so great that if you ever start indulging them you will never write again. - John Updike

"The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it." - J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

Poetry is the shadow cast by our streetlight imaginations." - Lawrence Ferlinghetti


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Tuesday, June 9, 2020

R.E. Slater - 7x7 Anger


Students portray Black Lives Matter movement in US and Brazil ...


7x7 Anger
by R.E. Slater

Dealing with Coronavirus.
Staying-at-home. Locked-in.
Scared. Mad. No money.
Kids. Anxieties. Fears.
No diversions. No Outlets.
No sports, bars, groups, work.
Just panicked helplessness.

No leadership.
Lying. Slandering. Blaming.
More lies. More anger. More madness.
What's hidden comes into 20/20.
Climate change not addressed.
Trump making war with the world.
Dividing everybody sane.

Pulling America apart.
Some demented dream of greatness.
A perfect storm forms.
And where's the church?
The real church is out marching.
Not the institutional church.
It's created all the disasters.

Where is America today?
And its white church gospel?
A gospel which victimizes.
Which plays the victim.
Which has harmed so many.
At the Southern border lands.
On the street lands of America?

Unobtainable health care.
Empty pockets. No wages.
I'm told Jesus followers heal.
They bless. They serve. They Aide.
That they bleed for the oppress.
Times of disruption give clarity.
They also give anger at Injustices.

Anger to assess.
Anger to make things right.
Anger of not having.
Anger of living in ruins.
Anger of being left behind.
Untended. Uncared.
Unwanted. Unloved.

I'm told America's Heartlands,
Greenlands, Urban Spaces,
Coastlands, Mountainlands,
Plains States, Hinterlands,
Beats with one heart,
Beats for all together,
When does it start for me?

R.E. Slater
June 9, 2020

@copyright R.E. Slater Publications
all rights reserved


How Is the Black Lives Matter Movement Organized? | HowStuffWorks