A Tribute to Maya Angelou... A Phenomenal Poet

“With all its noises, the world is still a terribly lonely place for many of us. So many voices around us that say nothing to aid our sense of meaninglessness. We engage our antennae in search of a message that addresses the essential emptiness of our existence, and find only the dead air of an inarticulate void; the dreadful sound of silence. Searching those places where we store our usual encouragement, we find gray clouds…just hanging there. Sometimes it is hard to see the sun, difficult to find the light. And so we retreat in silence, into the grayness of an uncertain point of view; into the refuge of our crustacean comfort."

“Poetry is the dynamic relationship between persons and words. Each acts upon the other to create order out of chaos; to allow for the illumination of formerly dark places. The individual exists in a perpetual state of change. We are spirit expressed in flesh and blood, evolving toward the ultimate revelation of the Eternal Self. The person who becomes consciously involved with the process of Self-evolution becomes a poet. In this experience, poetry is what we do. It is the craft of creating and re-creating the environment of our evolution. That environment is verily the world in which we live, and move, and have our being."

"Words are the incarnation of our thoughts. A word is the dynamic in which we attempt to name reality. Words are the sounding off of the spirit. A word is the animus by which we ride the wind in our effort to capture the moment.”

“We are bows. Words are arrows. Poetry is the art of the hunter in search of that illusive beast we call meaning. My words and I are lovers, and all’s fair game…in love.”

LIVE FOREVER MAYA ANGELOU... Phenomenal woman. 
Your bow was strong... Your arrows sharp...
We bask in the sunlight of your meaningfulness.

Excerpts from the introduction to the book "In My Element.”  By Roy Alexander Graham.


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Myths

The uninitiated mind often becomes confused in its consideration of what truth is. This confusion is a state of being that proceeds from a mind preoccupied with faulty assumptions about reality. If we begin with the wrong assumptions, we ask the wrong questions, and logically arrive at answers informed by our assumptions.
Such a mind approaches an event and begins its evaluation by asking, “Did it happen?”. The assumption being, if we cannot place that event in specific time and a specific place, then its truthfulness is to be challenged. When we equate truth to facts, not only do we overburden the facts; we shortchange the truth.
Wisdom teaches us that the truth is often larger and more encompassing than a particular set of facts. When we limit truth to the boundaries of our particular experience, we end up with dogma. Historically, dogma has been used to serve the purposes of those who would negate the validity of those positions that derive from the experience of others. Herein is to be found the raison d’etre of so many tragic conflicts.

Instead of beginning our quest for truth by asking whether or not an event actually occurred, perhaps we consider the accuracy of its depiction of the human condition. As an example, when we analyze the Biblical account of what we term “ original sin,” instead of preoccupying ourselves with questions about the “apple” or the “serpent,” we may more usefully contemplate the reality of temptation and beguilement in our experience. Is the story true? Yes. Is it factual? I do not care.
Seriously considered, myth serves us more completely than fact. This is so because myth takes the truth out of the rut of a particular life experience and re- presents it as a universal reality. A contentious point, I will admit, to those who would rule the world with the prescriptions of their dogma. But “truth” was always “offensive.”
Myth is truth that is larger than fact, and story telling is still a safe craft. Well, that is what the ancients keep telling me.


 Excerpt from the book: “Of Scattered Seed and Broken Souls" by Roy Alexander Graham

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The Parts of My Mother's Love

A gentle touch
That means so much
From the loving hands that cradled me…

Attentive ears
That shows you care
Listening to my every quest…

Eyes so full of wisdom rare
That sees beyond
Because you’ve been there…

Lips that kiss me “Goodnight my child”
Bringing the gentle winds
Of a loving smile…

And a heart so full of love complete
That nurtured me
With care so sweet…

With the outpouring of a grateful heart
That knows the gift of motherhood
As all the ways through which you show
Your grasp of Godly womanhood…
Thank you…Thank you mother dear
Here’s one more hug…To show how near
I feel to every part of you…
And one more kiss…That lets you know
That I love you…Love you…Love you so

From the book: "Of Scattered Seed and Broken Souls.” by Roy Alexander Graham

Check out this book on the iBooks Store: https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewBook?id=574443144

Isosceles Realities... The Power of the Recognition of Your Wholeness

Two sides... Standing together
Equally... Against a third…
One reality... Seeking survival
Against two dissenting thirds…

A triangular truth... Examined…And found wanting

One side
That must decide
Itself to save from a certain crush
Discovered in its infinity
It does not need to be
One of three
To survive
And realize
Its hundred eighty degrees.


Excerpt From: Roy Alexander Graham's... “Of Scattered Seed and Broken Souls.”

Check out this book on the iBooks Store: https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewBook?id=574443144

Update! A Nation of Immigrants... Our Origin and Destiny

The Obama Era Continues (Now let the Republican games begin!) 

This from Politico today:
"President Barack Obama will announce Thursday that he is shielding about 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation, according to sources familiar with the planning.

In calls to immigration reform proponents Wednesday, senior administration officials said the executive actions will cover 4 million undocumented immigrants who would qualify for deferred deportations by using criteria such as longevity in the United States and family ties, according to sources briefed on the discussions.

Another 1 million would receive protection through other means, two sources said.

Obama will promote the executive actions at an event in Las Vegas Friday."


"I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and lived here, even though sometime back they may have entered illegally.” Ronald Reagan (1984 debate with Mondale)

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 brought almost three million people “out of the shadows” of fear and exploitation into the hopeful daylight of American life. In contrast to the lamentations of certain conservative voices that the Act failed in its promise to stem the flow of “illegals” across our porous borders, we might look at its benefits to the economy and the fact that in the “land of the free” millions were liberated from the exploitation of those who prey on the vulnerable who had no status to demand any Rights. Since 1986 no less than another three million persons have received amnesty under various extensions of the IRCA.

Throughout our history people have come to this country in pursuit of a better life. Some come to escape wars and famine, others just in search of greater freedom and better economic opportunity. For whatever reasons...this is a land of immigrants, by immigrants, for immigrants. We come here and we give our talents and our blood and the blood of our children to build and to secure the “land of the free and home of the brave”. The absence of homogeneity is what makes us unique as a nation. We are more than “a people”. America is a product of the whole human experience, offering the richness of what it means to be a person to all who are courageous enough to venture into the formative splendor of its melting pot.

As Americans we have a duty to cultivate a vision of our society that is greater than that which is reflected in the convenient political opportunism that colors the ambitions of myopic individuals. Those who want to close the door behind them once they and their households are in will find that door constantly battered by the winds of human opportunity that brought the first ships to these shores. This country is a force of nature powered by the aspirations and the inspirations of the immigrant. Ours is a hope hinged on the hopes of those who dare to rise up against hopelessness.

According to our census experts there are close to 12 million people living illegally in the USA. They build our houses. They help us care for our children. They do our landscaping. They work in our restaurants and hotels. They do our dry cleaning. They work in our livestock industry. They raise and kill and pluck the chicken that is an irreplaceable staple of our daily diets. They do the work that many of us think is too hard. They are forced into prostitution. We underpay them because they are afraid to speak out against exploitation. They are forced to forego any recourse to Justice because of fear. And they are not the factor that they should be in the tax base that goes toward the building of a more viable society.

We are a nation of laws, but we must be more than that. Laws evolve. Let us be a nation of Justice. Let us author laws that nurture the hopes and dreams of the widow and the orphan. This nation must continue to be a refuge for those who seek safety from cruelty and famine. Let us be fair to those whose only transgression is seeking a better life for themselves and their families.

President Reagan knew in his heart that to maintain the status quo with regard to the undocumented immigrant was wrong. IT WAS WRONG THEN, IT IS WRONG NOW. We need to be guided now by the magnanimous-ness of Reagan's vision. We are called to abandon the blithe-full political rhetoric that reflects an impotent view of American possibility. Justice dictates that the time is ripe now to grant another amnesty.