“Some Places Are Not For Staying”

In 1996, Prince released a cover of The Stylistics, “Betcha By Golly Wow.” Before he began singing, he said, “Sometimes the words of another… seem to work out fine.

In the movie, “Finding Forrester.” Sean Connery as William Forrester said, ” I helped him find his own words… by starting with some of mine.”

Sometimes you run across the words of others that just inspire you to do something with them. I recently read a poem by Fee Thomas where a line jumped into my mind and has been wrestling with me to write something about it. I asked permission to use those words. “Some places are not for staying!” This is the result.

 

SOME PLACES ARE NOT FOR STAYING

 

Some places are not for staying

You may find yourself in them from time to time

They whisper for you to stay for they are lonely places wanting the company of your misery

They tell you, “Stay if you like”

They pretend to be comfortable places

But they’re not for staying

Photo: Codewit.com

 

Grieving is not for staying

We all experience loss and handle it differently

But mourning is for a season, not forevermore

We love a person no less when we move on from grief

Forget them not but wrap yourself in the warm and good memories

Grieving… not for staying

 

Some relationships are not for staying

If pain exceeds joy or truth is never certain

When what you deserve is not what you get

Staying may mean blocking your true joy

Some relationships… not for staying

Photo: Cosmopolitan.com

 

Pride is not a place for staying

Even visits should be short

It costs you much and gives next to nothing

Pride eviscerates truth, honor and trust

All for a momentary satisfaction

It rears its head again and again, when you notice it’s approach you should instead embrace humility and grace

Not for staying

 

The past is not for staying

Rather than trying to recreate old memories

Create new ones

Live not in the footsteps of past triumphs

Forfeit not the present

Learn from the past, let it guide you

Don’t stay there, it will only hold you back

Photo: Wellspring

 

Love is not for simply staying

It’s not for staying because love is a dynamic thing

It requires sustenance, time and effort

Once discovered it can fade away so keep moving toward the light

Or the darkness of its absence will overtake you

 

Frustration, Disappointment, Fear, Envy, Hatred, Financial Hardship, Depression…

All places not to stay

How to get out when you find yourself in a not for staying place?

Find someone who’s been there before and knows the way out

Pick a destination away from that place and make plans to go

Pray and act

Pray and act

Don’t pray and wait

Pray and act

Photo: Getty Images

 

There are places not for staying

Ultimately good for only wallowing and pain

Knowing you’re there is half the battle

Leaving begins with a single step

Some places are not for staying

 

Featured Photo: thenakedconvos.com

Old Friends

I saw an old friend yesterday

It had been years but seemed like days

We didn’t hug like men sometimes do

Patting each other on the back signifying that’s long enough

We embraced each other

Because there was joy in reuniting

 

We had traveled the country together

New York, Miami, Dallas, LA

Phoenix, Minneapolis, Denver, Atlanta

Baltimore…

Sworn not to talk about Baltimore

 

Old friendships should be treasured

True ones are rare

Silence need not be filled with conversation

There are no uncomfortable pauses

Memories fill all the gaps

 

He Has a Dream

This man has a dream

Not that the nation will “rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed”

But that it go back to a mythological time when America was greater

Not that the son’s of slaves and slave owners sit down at the table of brotherhood

But one where he would compel respect and compliance and some lives don’t matter

Not where his five children be judged by the content of their character

Bu one where they are protected from skin color by a wall or a ban

 

Not that little black boys or little black girls hold hands with little white boys and little white girls

In his dream, those little white boys and girls would be taught suspicion and bias, and hate

He has a dream, one parented by revenge and bitterness when a black man turned the tables and mocked him

 

His dream has been embraced by those whose views are aligned

He renounces them not

His dream…

Our nightmare

 

Michelle Obama Steals Melania’s Speech!

It’s so shameful that Michelle Obama stole Melania Trump’s speech at last night’s Republican Convention! It shows just how low the Democrat’s will go in pretending to adopt Republican values to win a nomination.

We know that Michelle Obama stole the speech because on at least two occasions, Melania told us she wrote the speech so the only explanation is that Michelle stole it. How dastardly to use a time machine, observe Melania Trump’s speech and then used it herself 8 years earlier.

I think Congress should immediately begin six or seven Congressional investigations and throw in a Special Prosecutor as well! Melania and Donald need to be defended from these scurrilous attacks by the Obama’s and you know Hillary was involved as well.

Awaiting Donald’s tweets which will undoubtedly shed like on the truth of the matter and properly condemn Michelle Obama, Hillary and of course the media!

In The History of Ever

In The History of Ever

 

Black leaders have always been criticized, demonized, vilified

For daring to speak up

For insisting on more for their people

For challenging deep and systemic injustice

There has never been a Black leader not treated so

In the history of ever

 

A certain segment of the majority power structure cannot simply allow them to blossom

They represent a threat which must be minimalized, marginalized, destroyed

They used to simply kill black leaders

Set an example to other potential leaders and followers alike

Now the trees they hang from are metaphorical but they try to kill them all the same

 

Today they destroy their character

Magnify flaws real or imagined

Those who are imperfect themselves, point out the imperfections of others, which therefore disqualifies them to lead

They recruit Black allies in their cause

Some do so for notoriety and visibility

Some with deeply held beliefs that somehow requires them to attack they that believe differently

Some sell out for money or are simply clueless

Stacey Dash…

 

Martin became a national hero only in his death

In his life they called him communist and pervert

Hounded simultaneously by the Klan and the FBI

They urged him to kill himself

James Earl Ray got there first

They want you to remember his dream

They want you to forget he said, “A riot is the language of the unheard”

 

 

Maya Angelou was called talentless

An Affirmative-Action mediocrity

Yet she rose

Still

 

Thurgood Marshall

Lazy, Incompetent

A less than average legal mind

They prefer Clarence Thomas

He speaks not, lest he reveals himself

 

Muhammad Ali was celebrated at his funeral

In life only when an affliction curtailed his speech

Did they desire to listen

When he was speaking they wanted to jail him for telling truth

 

Ida B Wells

They called her a “slanderous and nasty-minded mulatress”

Said she was “interested more in income than outcome”

They burned her offices

They threatened her life

This is the history of ever

And now Black Lives Matter

“Inherently racist”

“They spawn violence”

“Promote the execution of police officers”

The truth is a casualty because destroying them is the goal

Destroy them so their complaints can be ignored

So injustice can continue on while it serves a financial goal

Privatized prisons, militarized police forces, gerrymandering, voter suppression, murder

It has always been thus, in the history of ever

 

It’s time for a change!

The Little Sister

 

 

I survey my kingdom from the throne

Many have gathered today in my honor

It is my date of birth and they come to pay homage

 

They come from near and far

Regal costumes were worn

I myself wore a red cape

And a hat for a crown

 

Until this point, I’ve always been the younger sister

Still younger technically but now I’ve come of age

Make no mistake I love my big sister with all my heart

Nobody messes with her without dealing with me

She’s Four

I’m now Three

 

I think I’ve always been aware

When I was born I knew my mother and clung to her

My father took more getting used to as he kept going off to this thing called “work”

But he always came back

After he changed enough diapers and fed me, I let him into my world too

 

When I was young I acted as a child

Now that I’m three I take my place in the world

Still the Little Sister

But also an independent force

That must be reckoned with

 

 

 

Fee Thomas at feethomas.com

Many of you may have seen the poems I posted on behalf of someone special with no forum of her own. I posted a few of my favorites which can be found here:

https://enigmainblack.wordpress.com/category/poetry/fee-thomas/

Fee now has her own blog and a place to share the words that captivated me. I wish her much success and I look forward to seeing more of her week!

Go check her out at feethomas.com

Enigma in Black

 

“When I write there is no thought. It is complete invocation of Spirit and heart. I write, simply, because I cannot stop.”  Fee Thomas

 

 

 

 

Black Woman by Fee Thomas

You let him beat you down, make you feel so small

Tell you the Truth, it mystifies me all

It’s like you don’t even know who you are

And here it is, your genes have traveled so far

Sister friend, why do you look at me so quizzically?

Do you not know that you are tied to your lineage intrinsically?

 

So here you sit, proving that you are the strongest of your line

Go ahead, shake your head – that’s just fine

Lean back awhile I’ll tell you more

Your line goes back to when they first hit America’s shore

In slave ships they were; bound and gagged

Until they hit the marketplace for sale and tagged

On to the plantation, for beatings and rapes

The daring ones… up for escapes

 

Your lineage surviving mass disease and incarceration

Your people living through racism and segregation

Jim Crow, lynchings, mass inequality

The women in your line said I’ll beat all three

So as you sit now in your skin

I want you to take a moment and remember your kin

 

Evolution always moves up

To you, I tip my cup

Because you exist, that proves you are the best of your line

Sister friend you are doing just fine

Just do one thing for me, please

This moment, I must seize

The next time he wants to tear you down or call you “bitch”

Make sure to tell him there’s one little hitch

 

You carry too many great women along with you for a word that shady

Besides, you are too busy being a lady

You are from what the slave ships stayed alive

Because yes, Darling, only the strong survive

 

“When I write there is no thought. It is complete invocation of Spirit and heart. I write, simply, because I cannot stop.”

 

A Single Blade of Grass by Fee Thomas

Tonight I am grateful for being present in the moment For sitting outside, breathing, rocking in the chair, for admiring the beauty of a solitary birdhouse

For sitting outside, breathing, rocking in the chair

For admiring the beauty of a solitary birdhouse

Then my eyes gaze over at one uncommon blade of grass being teased by the wind

The blade is vibrant and strong and holding his own, all by himself

And I think, My God, it’s been a long, dark, bitter, brutal winter- so much so that most of it escapes me- but look at that, underneath the heft and burden of all of that heavy, dank snow that tiny little blade of grass was thriving all along

Still alive

Still in one piece

Alone, but His

What a miracle!

At that moment I realize that that’s what miracles do- they inspire awe and excitement, so tonight I am grateful for that miracle: that tiny absolutely significant blade of grass, which taught me everything today

Thank you, God

Grateful.

 

“When I write there is no thought. It is complete invocation of Spirit and heart. I write, simply, because I cannot stop.”

Too Many Good Boys

 

 

He wants to be a good boy.

He wants to be a good boy with dreams and aspirations.

He so desperately wants to be a good boy but he looks all around him.

All he sees is shades of brown and black from the housing projects that have been shut down.

He wants to be a good boy but his teacher corrects his grammar making him feel like a fool.

He wants to be a good boy but he still wets the bed and his momma whoops his ass every time.

He wants to be a good boy but there is a different uncle in his apartment every night.

He wants to be a good boy but his stomach is growling.

He wants to be a good boy but he can’t read.

He wants to be a good boy but someone told him to drop this package off down the street.

He wants to be a good boy, dreams of becoming a doctor; but doesn’t know any.

He wants to be a good boy and then someone gives him a gun to hold.

He wants to be a good boy in his footie pajamas watching cartoons with Mr. Bear but his childhood is over.

He wants to be a good boy but now it’s time to bring income into the house.

He wants to be a good boy but he’s skipping a school that never cared about him to slang on the street corner.

He so desperately wants to be a good boy with dreams and aspirations but he’s heading for the penitentiary.

“When I write there is no thought. It is a complete invocation of Spirit and Heart. I write, simply, because I cannot stop.”  Fee Thomas