cooke said

sang of a change coming. and you never really feel the current of this change
until something big and bloody happens.

so much has happened. i wrote 30 poems in 30 days. i had a birthday celebration in miami.
i am preparing for my daughter to graduate primary school. i am preparing for my sister
to marry. sean bell's killers were acquitted. my foot is back in a soft cast. there are no surprises like these left in the world for me. until the cyclone of burma. then the finishing of the men's anthology "barbershop chronicles." and now. this. i was accepted into the cave canem summer retreat. it is a week-long workshop for african-american poets and has been led by the likes of patricia smith, rita dove, kwame dawes, lucille clifton, nztoke shange and sooooooo many more greats.

it feels that current is moving a different direction. one that allows me to walk about with
more hope into my step. a smile on my face at times. when i trick myself into thinking of life
without all the pain and disappointment attached. breath me in. tell me if you can feel it too.