A LOVE POEM
In honor of:
All Black & Indigenous Women Everywhere
My Mom - Trudy Kay
My Grandmothers - Aggie Simenson, Florence Anderson
& Avanelle Bison
“Another world is not only possible,
she is on her way.
On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”
My “little” years were spent at the end of a dirt road in our family’s trailer home.
Summers were spent at “The Lake” in Minnesota -
a places with no tv
A place with no phones.
The skies of Montana were brilliant and vast
& the Minnesota waters & wind were cool,
peaceful,
& always passed by too fast.
We were restricted by income and space,
yet the Earth & Endless Love
Kept us embraced.
On spaghetti and egg nights, I remember my younger sister asking, “Mom, are we poor?”
“No honey, we just need to save,
so down the road you can have more.”
As I grew older
I paid attention to my body
I read, studied, & listened
Learning the US media & economy
are the walls of a box -
filled with bleach, -isms & juxtapositions.
Big Skies trained my eyes to look
beyond the horizon
To the places I’d never been
& the women of my life & Patrick Swayze
taught me to dance
under the moon
& with the wind.
Thankfully,
Spirit,
Yoga’s definition of breath & voice,
has always moved me to know
that we have a choice.
So from fisher price kitchen tables
fostering friendships with
Cabbage Patch dolls
to Lutheran churches
university classrooms,
I’ve quietly questioned hierarchies,
structures & systems
Meditating with the intention of peace,
Love, knowledge & wisdom.
I studied, reflected,
and like my mother
“tried not to be late”
to better understand
to make room for us all to have access
& opportunity to freely create.
My story has been one of learning at best,
knowing it’s never ending
It’s a healing and a quest.
Decolonizing is deliberate - it’s us understanding that unless we are Indigenous, we are colonizers and come from lineage of an ill guided quest.
It’s understanding we are life time students in an unlearning of this system, and the importance of giving credit and gratitude & to our teachers, Malia Lazu, Marlene Boyette, Cassandria Campbell, Dra. Rocio Rosales Meza and a long list of Black and Indigenous women.
It extends beyond “niceties”
competitive & oppressive
capital driven office walls, and work circles.
We must be open to feedback -
learning a the need for our accountability & recognition of privilege.
This quest for restoration and repentance,
is a lifetime commitment.
It’s time for us to change,
time to do something different.
This change of openness
is one necessary to make.
Breath - defined by spirit
allows us to evolve from our negative cycles
& habits
We we are mindful in our release
& remember the waters of “the lake.”
The pull of spirituality calls us back to our bodies - behaviors & roots.
It causes us to reflect,
assess and respond
with patience
& truth.
We examine our “Why?”
Our reasons for the lives that we live.
We focus our attention away from the get,
in order to truly give.
Our questions of “Why” as Amiri Baraka teaches us, become the question of “Who?”
Why + Who is the story of Us.
The people whom we Love
are the people we build with
- the people we trust.
We acknowledge & give honor to ancestors, family, and friends that join & guide us along the way.
Those who come with kindness, care,
& a knowing of better systems,
a better world, a better day.
We start here and now.
This is our commitment to a new earth and real life.
We must be active & educated in our pursuit of diversity; regardless, of fear, struggle or strife.
The individuals and collectives with whom we partner are aligned in the belief of deliberate creation, equity, equality & Love.
We work to disrupt our fears, & assumptions,
& we never ever judge.
We bring our authentic selves to our Yoga mats
& the table.
We create safe and brave spaces & hold empathy for
all who are willing - able & disabled.
We do Yoga - eat, laugh, share, move and breathe.
This holistic practice helps us let go
We deliberately invest in time for ourselves
& with each other.
We do this in the name of Love,
We do it for our Mothers.
Always and forever, we mediate and pray
that we create PEACE in this lifetime.
& this new life starts today.
With endless love & gratitude.
With Love & Gratitude ,
Erin Kay
Written on Mother’s Day
5.10.20