Blog Archives
becoming (beauty in the swamp pt II?)
i am coming to what i believe
but what i believe is old
i am coming to what i believe
despite what i’ve been told
i don’t know but i’ve been sold
a visible/invisible distinction
& no more than bread to hold
at the moment of intinction
every lie held a grain of truth
& in every truth deception
no uncorrupted sayer-of-sooth
no absence since inception
all together separate

there are demons in the closet
whose names i no longer want to know
once thought if i could confront them one by one
the past would let me go
but living in a past that exists only in my worst dreams
has had me dying slow
so if its all up to me now
then i’ll hold out my palms to let it all go
but i can’t bear this burden all alone
maybe that’s never what you intended
all i need is you to say my name
all i need is your breath, your flesh, your vision
we are saved together; but apart?
apart i’ll be damned if we’re not damned
and i’ve never been good at the role i was handed
of sacrificial lamb
but mother, god forgive her
my father is still here and i can
but damn if i don’t spit and sputter
and still withhold my hand
and i can’t bear this burden all alone
that was never what was intended
ear pressed, listening for my name
its cold enough to see my breath but still no vision
there are demons in every closet
who lie in wait for last of days
we thought we had their number
’till we were forced to see through their gaze
our hearts are infinitely connected
but temporarily broken in our stay
but when we’ve been there 10,000 years
its here we’ll catch the rays
and i wont bear this burden all alone
but i know that’s not what you intended
when i hear you say my name
i wonder if perhaps it could be enough just to listen

Coffee 2009
Death in Uganda again this Christmas
and all in Jesus’ name
maybe Museveni, Ssempa
and Kony are the same
Young men hiding in their homes
from terrorists attacks
are we too progressive to notice
now that our president is black?
We’ll just say its not about us
we have our own niggers to save
our own fags to argue over
let them dig their early graves
But if it’s really not about us
if there’s purpose beyond ourselves
then its calling us to do more
than choose fair-trade from the shelf
About four years ago I wrote something called Coffee. It was also about this time of year. It also had to do with events impacting Uganda. When I feel powerless and impotent in the face of evil or injustice this is what I do. I pray. Its a prayer. Its an angry prayer. But it is a prayer nonetheless. Its a prayer for justice and in some ways a prayer of confession. I invite you to join me in it.
~wwb
ps I think it goes without saying but the racial and homophobic epithets are caricatures of voices I hear in the American church and broader culture

