Posts filed under Poetry

Hush Up

Hush Up

A poem by Veronica Duran

Part I

Hush up, little girl, don’t cry!!!

There was a little 5 year old girl playing in her room with her dolls

She goes to sleep and wakes up a woman

Her step-dad tells her…Hush up, little girl, don’t cry!!!

 

The little girl does drugs now

Her dealer tells her

Hush up little girl, don’t cry

 

The little girl gets locked up

The police man tells her

Hush up, little girl, don’t cry

 

The little girl gets a boyfriend that beats her up

He tells her

Hush up, little girl, don’t cry!!!

 

The little girl is homeless now

She walks the street, talking to herself

Hush up, little girl, don’t cry!!!

 

Part II

The Lord says to me,

Come to me, little girl, cry, cry, cry!!

Come to me with your sorrows

I keep track of all your tears

I put them in your bottle


Vero is a homeless advocate and a member of First Love Community Church of East LA. She is a girl who was lost and now is found.

Posted on October 25, 2024 and filed under Poetry.

The Reluctant Returner

“When I look at the life of Moses, I find so many similarities between our lives. I want to speak to our returners, relocators, and remainers to encourage you and invigorate you with my testimony as I step into Servant Partners as a faithful, but reluctant returner.”

Posted on May 23, 2024 and filed under Poetry.

Accent

“An accent is a sign of bravery,
of journey, celebrated or unsung—
a mark of freedom from the slavery
of thinking in a single siloed tongue.”

Posted on May 23, 2024 and filed under Poetry.

I Found God

“I found God in the names: Heaven, Angel, Isaiah meaning “God saves”, Okesene  meaning oxygen in Samoan—like the breath of God in our lungs.”

Posted on December 27, 2023 and filed under Poetry.

Who Grief Was

Who grief was isn’t who she is today, like an old paint can that hasn’t been used in years you start to forget who grief was as the paint dries. But when the paint is fresh again the smells, the colors are all too familiar to not remember. That old friend is back and what you knew of her has changed, you have changed. You guys get to relearn about each other again. Who grief was isn’t who she is today and neither are you.

Posted on August 29, 2023 and filed under Poetry.

Heavenly Bibliotecas

I like to think there are bibliotecas in Heaven full of wonder & treasures untold. Battles of the angels, stories of Jesus’ love, narratives of the Father’s grandeur, adventures of The Spirit’s journey with mortals.

Posted on August 29, 2023 and filed under Poetry.

More than

Three brothers born beautiful boys brown eyes witnessing and holding pain unknown yet present sorrow no father no thought that life could be anything more than death of freedom prison for life

Posted on August 29, 2023 and filed under Poetry.

Home For Now

When I wake up in a city That yesterday was strange Today I can imagine That I might have place Amidst the bustling crowds, Strange sites and foreign sounds With the help of google maps I begin to find my way around

Posted on April 8, 2022 and filed under Poetry.

A LA ORILLA DEL MAR

ENTRE VOCES QUE CANTAN EN MEDIO DEL SONIDO DEL MAR. CADA CUAL DE DIFERENTE LUGAR. UNIENDO SUS VOCES EN LA VERDADERA FELICIDAD. UNIENDO SUS VOCES EN LA VERDADERA FELICIDAD.

Posted on April 8, 2022 and filed under Poetry.

My Respectable Papa

To parallel my grandfather, I chose to take a picture of my brother. There is a generational gap between them, and thanks to my grandfather's work my brother will never have to be a laborer unless he chooses to be.

Posted on April 8, 2022 and filed under Poetry, Photography.

Color de Esperanza

Entre gotas de color y sueños de esperanza, Cada sonrisa y mano extendida, Entre cada amanecer y atardecer, Así es cada uno de ellos, entre sus similitudes y multiculturalidad.

Posted on January 12, 2022 and filed under Poetry.

Making a Place

A feast is laid on the table today, greeting, filling us after long hours, no—years on a way. Where we’ve come from, where we’ve been. Places set around what’s been begun. You call us around. You crouch quite a ways
down to show us how washing feet lowers and lifts up what the law says. Then breaking bitter herbs and grain’s sown sweetness, for days when I groan

Posted on September 2, 2021 and filed under Poetry.

Between Los Angeles and Heaven

My son, he’s three, and He wants to go home. To see his teachers, he says. He is speaking, now slowly—I want to go to A-fri-ka—as if we aren’t getting it. To Uganda, he says, eyes insistent, pointing to the sky we will fly across to get back there. He is pointing to where home is, the way some kids point to the sky when asked: Where is heaven?

Posted on September 2, 2021 and filed under Poetry.

In the living room

In the living room the balcony door yawns open And evening coolness sweeps in The kid downstairs is smoking again like an acolyte swinging a censer Thick incense fills the room encircling me Suddenly I am aware of holiness in this place In a moment my eyes can see What always was, only gently hidden Love and Presence fill this block hover over it

Posted on June 7, 2021 and filed under Poetry.