Do WE Stand United…or Disjointed?

People of color dying in disappropriate numbers in relation to their standing in local/regional/national populations.

Men dying more than women.

Children and infants transitioning well before their time.

Masks, gloves, gowns, physical distancing: 6, 8 or 10 feet- one size does not fit all, airborne germs, stay at home regulations.

Stay Protected. Stay Safe.

And on a less than normal Easter Sunday while facing the possibility of a second wave, we hope to be united…to do what is right and necessary to help all members of our communities. And moreso, will we be united to address the societal inequities that will still linger, like a festering wound, when we finally embrace the rainbow? 

Stay Blessed. Now, today…

We embrace a poet, writer and editor who has been an integral and valued colleague, as well as a friend from the earliest days of aaduna’s emergence in the world of literary journals though it was launched and continues to stay primarily in the online universe.

Tamara J. Madison is an internationally traveled author, poet, editor, and educator. Her most recent work is Threed, This Road Not Damascus published by Trio House Press (May 2019). You can find more about her work on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @TamaraJMadison or on her website: www.tamarajmadison.com.

Tamara J. Madison [Photo credit:  Amanda Diaz]  

Wombing:  Three-Breasted Woman Shares Her Birth Story

… And in the 7^th hour of the 8^th day, the universe poured herself into herself, and I was born ripple of riveting wind, lotus in my left hand, machete long as I am tall in my right.

Upon my knees, I kissed and whispered Life into the womb of Death. He trembled in my protective arms bursting into droplets of Light.

Smiting lies with one righteous blow, I gathered the keening cries of moaning multitudes upon my back. I nursed them on goddess milk, swaddled them in sacred scrolls, raised them into shouts of jubilation and victory!

My own “I am” infinitely conceiving, I am she who swallowed the sun whole to birth bejeweled shadows.

Nowtime, millenniums after that 7^th hour and 8^th day, I long to lay my weapon down, dance with lotus in my hair and you in my embrace. I did not come here just to fight. I came to love you.   

* * * 

Rebuttal:  Three-Breasted Woman Confronts King James 1

                                                                        Who can find a virtuous woman?

                                                                        for her price is far above rubies.

                                                                        Proverbs 31:10

(King James Version)

Really, James?
A virtuous woman, a price,
any woman, a price, a “piece,”
maid, trade, an enslaved, 
wet nurse, cook, cunt, trophy, a price?

This life- damnation and dowry,
rubies, gold,
a dollar, pound, yen,
my hair, your glory,
my hips, the hills you climb 
for the right price?

James, king almighty,
even your queen for a pence?  Must you 
buy everything?

                                                                                               

* * *

New Orleans…Remembrances and the Future to continue

Stay safe.  Be well.

bill

* * * * *

aaduna - an online adventure with words and images - a globally read, multi-cultural, and diverse online literary and visual arts journal established in 2010.  Visit us at www.aaduna.org where we put measurable actions to our words.

Help us build community!  Share with your friends,  "like" our Aaduna-Inc facebook page and follow us on twitter @ aadunaspeaks !  

 aaduna-Inc  Visit regularly for updates !