Obie Weathers
[untitled]
I tear these leaves for you from my trees.
My ink carves your name into my bark.
I weep sweet sap that insects and animals lick.
After the twilight when only the moon can see
I undress and do my healing work.
Obie Weathers #00999396
In honor of my brother who was executed 2 years ago – and in light of the recent movements against racism in the country, I would like to share a poem I wrote days after his death. It is my hope the discussion around criminal justice reform soon focuses its lens on the death penalty.
The Feet Of History
I
So many of us
Have walked out of here
On feet
That are not our own
Several days ago
Another such one
Echoes
Still vivid
In our memories
Of the man
We called Jasiri
II
I can not describe
To you
The feet
Of my friend
But I saw them once
Up close
And they were not pretty:
Gnarled, bark-like things
Pork rinds for toes
And fish scales for heels
“I know my feet are messed up”
He said
When pointed them out to Him
A silly thing
He’d been living with them for years
29 at that point
And somehow, His voice seems to had known
The secret of His feet:
The history
That bore Him across
This concrete dystopia
Was mangled
Tangled
In a
Gordian knot
That long ago
Twisted a noose
Into His fate
And swung Him ‘round
So that His body
Made contact
With every
Jagged edge
Of His reality
Scarring
His vocal cords
With knowing
III
WE are told: “It is your choice!”
WE are sold: “The sky’s the limit!”
But, WE are given two pair of feet:
Those WE walk through our dreams
Towards the good things with
And those WE walk with – in spite
Our better selves
And their diligent efforts –
Towards the grave resisting change
The Flowers of Trauma
I woke
From your filthy dream
This morning
In your filthy bed
With your filthy arm around me
And your filthy seeds dead-dry between my thighs
And exorcised
Your demons
Like every morning;
And found a tune
Fit to whirl a dervish to.
I went for a short walk
Along the narrow concrete path.
At the river
I practiced kriyas*
Then sat
To compost my garden
When these flowers bloom
I will share them freely
With you and all of our children.
“Yogic cleansing techniques.
Astrological sign:
