Depends on the Forest
Written by Charise Sowells
Published on Poets for Ferguson
It’s a shame everybody complains about Big Brother watching
for if we didn’t behave like children, we wouldn’t require supervision.
Should only thoughtful decisions be made when somebody’s looking on,
it’s the least we can do to monitor from dusk ‘til dawn.
There’s a proverb about a tree falling and nobody hearing it.
What’s happening in the news tells us that we probably wouldn’t believe it.
And even if we did, it’s out of sight, out of mind.
Not my problem.
Why are they whining?
Grow a new tree.
At most people may discuss the quality of the tree:
the life it had, whether it deserved to fall,
the rings of growth, whether it had any at all.
Maybe its leaves hung a little too low.
Its branches were too thick.
Its bark somewhat rough.
Its roots entangled on the surface.
Was it a tree destined for the ground?
Did someone wrongfully knock it down?
It’s only one tree.
If only someone had seen it crash into the earth.
If only someone had felt its weight resonate through the soil.
Maybe then we would understand the recent turmoil.
But instead we polarize all of the elements,
reducing a life to only an instant.
Nothing is ever as black and white as we so desire to make it.
Violence should never beget more violence.
A baby must never be shaken.
But maybe extremes are the only way to elevate the tree’s impression.
Perhaps the reasons behind its demise require more than a heavy sentence.
The world took to the streets to help a fallen tree be heard,
representing a myriad of silenced trees in the woods.
As with any tree, its life may not have been perfect,
but had a different tree fallen in a different forest
rest assured, the world would have heard it.
In These Walls
by Charise Sowells
Daddy left before the sun rose
riding his dreams into the light of dawn
Mama kept it together in front of us
as we said goodbye to him
The front door closed slowly
as if to give both of them
a chance to change their minds
But Daddy wasn't ever going to change his mind
Mama knew that more than any of us
I watched him walk away
as my little sister cried
Mama used every last ounce of strength she had
to shuffle back into the bedroom that was once theirs
I don't even think she bothered to shut the door behind her
because her sobs could be heard loud and clear
We knew it was for the best
He promised he'd be back
Until then, all we would know of him
was the monthly envelope of money he'd send in the mail
All this, so we could have a "better life"
I'm not even sure what that means anymore
Sometimes I think life was better when we were a family
under the same roof
Mama had a spring in her step back then
A reason to get up in the morning
She ain't ever been the same since
Some people say
home is where the heart is
I believe that to be a half truth
It's also where people treat you like you belong
Like you're a person who's capable of something
That's what Daddy was chasing after
He was always certain there was more to this life
than what he had been given
And he was determined
to go out there and take it
Hard as it's been missing him
I am proud of Daddy for going out on a limb for us
Sacrificing everything he knew
Mama says he works two full time jobs
and lives in an apartment with other men like him
Meanwhile, we're reaping the rewards
living in a new house he designed from afar
building a new life for us, beam by beam
If only he could see it
Daddy may be in another country physically
but his heart is still here
with us
in these walls
And whether here or there,
I know we'll be together again some day
Parallels
by Charise Sowells
Published on Deepak Chopra's site
America the beautiful
built on blood and tears
we claim to own this stolen land
denying up and down
most of our ancestors were immigrants once
by force or of their own volition
many of them were chasing a dream
of something more
pushing people from their homes
laying claim to that which can never truly belong
to anyone
they made a melting pot
where some get burned
and others rise to the occasion
all they wanted was what they deserved, they said
a place to make a name for themselves
to be remembered how they wanted to be perceived
to spread their seed
and live freely
safely
without persecution
where they had the opportunity to grow
and write their own history