“We” want to go back to the way things were.

We?

The way things were?

Does that signify another round of denied opportunities for people of color and other groups who have been traditionally disregarded in fairly attaining the fruits of life due to institutional racism and implicit biases?

How things were?

Middle class revered yet all too often left off political action plans that favor the multi-millionaire class while convincing the middle folks that they too are on the right track for untold riches….to come…maybe…one day…not necessarily in one’s lifetime…patience.

The way things were will return, for sure!

More of the same…the new normal?

The divisive pathways will stay the same regardless of what may be the “new” normal.

Blue or red will become more entrenched and possibly new color configurations may emerge from the frustrated masses.

Re-open the economy and society. Return to normal. Return to more of the same…a new normal!

Culture will prevail. As always, creatives will address the ills of society, as well as articulate individual expressions of how the world is and should be perceived.

“We” embrace those clarion calls for re-thinking, re-assessment, creating something different or “we” shall face more of the same normal that creates barriers between groups and misunderstanding among the world’s people.

New and emerging voices will continue to be birthed in a richness and profound understanding of life and its intricacies that seek to better all of humankind.

Welcome Michael Sickler.

Michael Sickler, a Professor Emeritus of Painting and Art History at Syracuse University, has been published and received awards in ten national poetry reviews . He is the author of six chapbooks. Sickler served as co-editor in chief on the Comstock Review.


Fereastra Pentu Luna

Romanians call it ‘window
for the moon’
Gypsies call windows
‘seeing holes’
the moon is a ‘Dude’
I am giving it an invitation
to come in out of the cold
hoping to make friends instead of
watching it rub like the witch Isabel Dowdie’s cat
against trees to create unearthly shadows
that inhabit my dreams of why
are we attracted to midnight fears
we love to be frightened
when walking backwards in dark
cemeteries filled with the misshaped
cooling themselves branches stretching
to reach out to anything or anyone
grab them by their ankles
keep themselves from drowning in dawn’s light
what makes us ill-at-ease though is really when moonlight
starts slipping its fingers over the sill and
climbing  into your bed stealing  your dreams

* * *

Southside Holdout

A galvanized railing
pulls you closer
into another holiday,
some citizen’s attempt
to bring a poor man’s
stars nearer,

another year
wound round, 
made older
under lepis-wrappings
of starshine on a post.

Outspoken, some drunken birds
are still singing hymns
under the vodka moon.
One window left open,
even Hell needs a breeze.

Three candles
lit like a dime-store menorah
light the way in
to a television
watched by the dark.

* * * 

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 !