people are poets are prophets

after Dr. Refaat Alareer If you must die, We must live To tell your story To read your poems To sing a song of peace in the streets (make it...

Acción de Gracias reconocer lo hermoso   sin ignorar lo que duele ver cada uno precioso   por la verdad que revele a caminar con conciencia ...

 “ Sing to Yah,” cries the prophet Miryam, as the Waters of Life rise around us “ Look!” cries the prophet Micah, “Our God is coming out of...

Despedida Quieta after Patrick Rosal Dear heavy heart, dear poets, dear love- starved ones, hear this: there are ancient ruptures you must h...

On the full moon in April 80 years since Warsaw 40 since Harold Washington In the middle of Ramadan On the night before Passover We in Chica...

amidst the worst i have seen the best a man one cold night who breaks a lock a prairie pond in a fenced-in block a heart-shaped hole in a ho...

  This is the Year after  Mart í n Espada, and all prophets This is in fact the year that squatters evict landlords, meeting like city plan...

Amidst cicadas roaring as the August moon waned new, in Uptown, where the lakefront parks are lined with tarps and tents, the st...

  Our New Anthem after Aris Kian in the age of streaming, gofundmes, & the great so-called resignation budget freeze, NFTs, & YouTub...

in 7th grade, on poetry day each human is a world the pencils do their awkward dance across the spiral journals where visions are discovered...

  Jubilee Year This is our year of Jubilee This year we issue our decree That now from sea to shining sea All vacant bank-owned homes are fr...

I saw a bunch of potted flowers bursting by a bank           -- poppies, daisies, carnations,                     reds, blues, white...

Masks after Paul Laurence Dunbar We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,— This debt we pay to human g...

 [to see a video of me performing this piece, click here ] “ Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integra...

 To organize around your dream To trust in some angelic scheme To write and sing the songs you hear All true roads lead here The rat-infeste...

are remembering our name waking up & taking what was always promised us but never was intended to be ours we the workers / we the renter...

 “ Relent, O Lord! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your mercy, that we may rejoice and...

 A moment of silence for Macy's This broken shell of a luxury store On the once Magnificent Mile The windows are shattered The clothing ...

George Floyd called for assistance And was murdered on our screens The cop's knee pressed against his neck Now people round the e...

Eyes on the Prize (2020) Adam Gottlieb George and Eric cried “I can't breathe”, We say their names as we take the streets Keep you...

this world sucks. so let's make a new one. you & me both baby (you can come too, son) we could be new, love we could be princes...

On Holy Wednesday (which was also the first night of Passover and the Sleepless Night of Shab-e-barat) in the middle of the great pan...