beyond the conversations

By Rima Vesely

the daffodils are blooming along st. nicholas avenue

sunlight falling upon color framing high brick

walls      cracked pavement      day laborers eating

their hard hats shining under the glare

i sit in shadows hours later, words scattering,

exploding in my mind      white       supremacy      a

society hemorrhaging in the wake of apartheid

a way of being      holocaust

the intensity of these worlds collides      the drive

towards solitude      rooted inner quietness

the urge to articulate chaos and rage dwelling

within those inner and outer spheres.      and beneath

it all, the inevitable conversations      the dream

of a common language

today the air is crisp, cold.      i run hard

my breath escaping in fast gulps of air.

no art to this but fury, quietness, the

intricate weaving and unweaving of so

many knowns, unknowns, and the

anger and love beneath it all

beyond the conversations      with companions

in my head      there fields of

daffodils      no walls in sight

only cups of yellow gold fragile in quiet sun.

Rima L. Vesely is a poet and community activist based in Oakland, Calif. A Witness contributing editor, she serves as campaign manager of Books Not Bars , a project of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights , and is a member of the Black Radical Congress . Rima may be reached by email at nyicare@earthlink.net.