Binds that Tie

Eva's hands were tied
when Mother
was pulled off the ship
and for her beauty
traumatised beyond knowing
seized in her fight to survive
and keep the blood of the womb
flowing for generations
she trained her young
in knowing ignorance
hoping they would wake
implanting songs from
other worlds and other lands
in her children's minds as lullabies

Her daughter's hands were tied
when the first master went into a house
shrouded in darkness
she did not give up her ghost
she gave up her mind
and hardened herself
as she was stripped of tatters
and patchwork
she left her tenderness on the ground
to rise in a power foreign to her nature
Her man stood helpless
He could not protect her

Her daughter's daughter hands were tied
the moment freedom rang
and integration was mistaken for assimilation
decadence gained
was ownership lost
and in the end all she came up with
was debt and desire for more things
dress, move, walk and talk like them
and you too will have made it into
the "Dream"
all the breeding back and forth
dark to light
light to dark
created confusions that made
the Mother's tears flow
The goal had been accomplished
her daughters were bound
unable to find the Mother in their land
they could not draw the scent of her footprints
from the soil they stood upon
they could not follow her back home

The line of the blood flowed
weakened
until a daughter was born
who looked back into the eyes of the first Mother
then to the eyes of her children
whose lines could not be drawn straight
lost
this daughter shook the blood in her veins
until it frothed
looking for the reasons her hands were tied
unable to find branches
she followed swirls
unable to pull the truth from her blood
she cried to the heavens

"If there is a God that hears
help me find the binds that tie
tie me to minds that keep me from
calling the earth
tending the sea
healing the sky
and living this life
and if there's not
may my eyes open to all the light
to honor the life I live"

Dreams and Roses

Don't give me roses
Again
I say
don't give me roses
I'd rather you give
a hand when I'm down
a word to lift my spirit
a partner for living
not for my dreams

I can't give
what I don't have
So I won't promise forever
eternity
or always
I will offer my best
but don't hide your worst
and let me do the same

Untangle yourself
from the layers of false patterns
Build me up with words
to feed my strength
and I will offer you praise
fit for a king

Don't try to make me happy
point me to the happy inside me
demand I excavate it
even without you

Don't give me diamonds
They fall as tears from the eyes of our people
Don't give me gold
it was stolen from our land
Give me the diamonds of truth
Give me the gold of peace

I'm awake
don't hypnotize me
with what you think I want
ignoring your own heart

I don't mind dreams
and roses
they are beautiful in stories
they are sufficient for graves

Finish This

Our fingers unlaced
we kissed
and I woke up

I look at myself in the mirror
I recognize the face
not the tears

Twisting unlocked roots
I'm reminded of the shame
in my heart
how these tight coils came to be mine

Strength and mental anguish
minds twisted and controlled
the desire to match sickness
to imitate a deficiency of soul

I wonder what I would have been
freed from visions and thoughts
of my own inferiority
based off a story told one to many times
feeding the depth of mind

Knowing how doesn't mean action
and action doesn't mean it's ever finished
I will take the reigns of my mind
from those who wish to drive me
over death

I want to make a finish
of the work done
long ago
in the line of women I follow
the first broken spirit
the first captured mind

I want to finish this
and bring them back to
their promise
the last shall be first