OSAMA BIN DEAD...

an eye for an eye/a tooth for a tooth/ till we're all blind and need dentures to chew food for thought//feet beat the war drum/ all our feelings numbed/ till we all become/ the dumber of the dumb/everyone/one for all and all for one/ pied piper playing the song of the lost one/ our children will listen and fall deep down/down/ our ditches...

tHe DaWNiNG: a letter to mayor_ford@toronto.ca

It isn't anger that i feel over your decision to deny Afrofest a permit this
year...it is affirmation...it is the slow dawning of recognition that knows
what is not being said in words but in action...it is what people of colour
know the scent of...it is racism...and as wrong as it is...we were told to
expect this from you...so you are living up to your expectations...you are
delivering not what you promised on your campaign trail...but what your
naysayers said would be the real you...you are slowing but surely evolving
into our fears...i can't write you a please save Afrofest letter...i know
better than to supplicate to your energy...but i do write...for the first
time...to a political official directly...to say: i see you...i know the
name of what you are...and it's sad...sad that you were chosen the keeper
and champion of one of the most diverse cities in the world...because you
heart desires no such diversity at it's core...

thinking, you should be ashamed of yourself but knowing you are not...

MESSAGE TO DaViD BaRKHaM:

www.davidbarkham.com

thank you...for being able to hear past what you might have perceived as negative to offer me a positive ...i used the work because you did actually capture me...and you captured me in a way that i've rarely been able to see myself...but in a way where i could never deny that who i'm seeing is me...so in response to your comment of my wanting it "both ways"...yes, i am a guilty of that... because, i'm a human being...and i'm just torn between loving the idea of someone capturing me and the feeling of being captured with no access...at the end of the day...it's hard to know that this is out there away from me... instead of... with me...the one thing you always feel like you have control of is your identity...but then if i'd had control of "self" the way i wished it...you would never have been able to paint a piece of me that all my friends and community gravitate to so powerfully...it is simply a double edged sword...as so much of life is...i know that your painting is a message/gift from the universe...one that i'm working to decipher still...but one that i'm extremely glad for...it feels like the "powers that be" commissioned this work on my behalf...because i would never have known how to have asked for this...and i think that's why it's so perfect...

thanking you again, for allowing me to use your interpretation of me as a representation of myself as an artist, you will be credited accordingly
afrakaren

4 InTeRNaTioNaL WoMeN's DaY: SHaRe if U LoVe a WoMaN...

A Woman whose commitment to herself/ as unwavering/ is a dangerous thing to a patriarchal system// who proves a primary commitment to herself/ when/she does not allow the dysfunctional strength/ of someone else/to strong arm her rights/or eclipse her light// This Woman?/She guides boys into men/nurtures the malnourished self esteem of girls/into the gleaming/beaming/rays/of the self assured// Grounded in a power that conducts respect/her roots/the conduits of her Feminine electric/her intuitive gift locked and set/ her trigger finger calm/but her gaze/direct// a woman who puts herself first protects/everyone else/behind her...

-me-

iN SeCuRiTY

iNSeCuRiTY is a powerful thing...a turbulent spin...in the cycle of your inner being...centrifugal in its force//paralyzing doubts and complex inferiority....reflect back to me...from my inner core...but still...i need to embrace being here, more...in order for ...my heart and core...to hone in on my power...to mutually agree...on what is unanimously believed to be my light...

HoPeS & DReaMs

Son of light/ you changed this life/ when you came forth from within it that winter’s night/a long awaited awe inspiring surprise/ a force of nature/ come to intertwine these lives/ limbs articulated/ features defined/lungs bellowing forth a warriors cries// perfectly alien/ fragilely human/ awestruck in my wonderment for you/ in reverence of you/so deeply and truly in love with you/in only a second or two/ deeper than cartilage and tissue/ deeper than blood through muscle and sinew/ thief of my heart/ now the constant of my mind/ a motivation to change in ways i couldn't have if you hadn't come in time//

and the beautiful thing/ is that / it is not only i /who sings your praises/ we are the many who love you/ a community/ that lovingly devotes to you/ Those of us who love you/ we are a fortress around you/ we wear your hopes as halos/ and our hearts on the wings we use to protect you// we surround you/ ocean's deep and star sky high /committed to ensuring your light will shine into the world//

Facebook ToDaY: LeTTeR to Someone i can't stop thinking about...

"I've learned to listen to the universe...because it tells me to pay attention...and teaches me things through the things i pay attention to...so therefore, i tend to pay attention to the things the universe tells me to...right now i'm being told to pay attention to you ...that's what i've been asked to do..."

-me