For My Dad

I will not say good-bye.

Do you say good-bye to the sun

As it nestles behind the clouds

Or sinks slowly on the horizon?

I will not say good-bye.

Do you say good-bye to the moon

When it eclipses

Or disappears one quarter at a time?

I will not say good-bye.

Do you say good-bye to the rain,

As it falls from the sky

And each drop mingles with the oceans?

I will not say good-bye,

To my sun, my moon and my rain.

Today you fly free.

One tomorrow we’ll meet again.

I will not say good-bye, I’ll say, see you soon.                            

                                                                                                                                                                                                      -Alfreda Henry

©February 2017

I'M NOT BLUE BECAUSE OF YOU

I’m Not Blue Because of You

By Alfreda Henry

I’m not blue because of you

My world has always slanted gray

I’m not blue because of you

Maybe I was born this way

It might appear when you’re near

The sun shines brighter everyday

I’m not sure if it was clear

That I needed you to stay

When I was searching for a friend

I found a friend in you

I certainly know the clouds moved in

As they often do

A lie of omission is still a lie

No matter how sweetly said

I can swim in perdition of whys

But I can’t unmake that bed

I’m not blue because of you

My world has always slanted gray

I’m not blue because of you

Maybe I was born this way

Loves' dance can be complex when the music’s off-key

The drummer played different beats when it came down to you and me

Loves’ dance can be complex when the music’s off-key

The drummer played different beats when it came down to you and me

I’m not blue because of you

My world has always slanted gray

I’m not blue because of you

Maybe I was born this way

© September 13, 2017

IN(DI)VISIBLE

IN(DI)VISIBLE

by Alfreda Henry

You don’t see me

Even wearing the loudest red

Hands held high over my head

For me Freedom isn’t free

It just a word being said

The “American Dream”

It lies rotting on the vine

While Black Mothers screams

Echo through time

My skin color a major crime

You don’t see me

Spread eagle in the position

Just a forum for some politician

Until Election Day

When they find new ways

To make me pay

Telling me to wait for the promise land

While my sons are dying by your hand

You don’t see me

For you we’re all the same

Just branded with a different name

Discounting my life’s experience

Reframing my subsistence

Into more than just existence

That you say I don’t deserve

But I have some nerve

You don’t see me

Laying the blame at my door

Without examining the core

Claiming not to start the war

All the while picking the scab from the sore

Bandage,?  You don’t see the need

Lie there and bleed

You don’t see me. 

My struggles minimize

Down to an edible size

I wage a protest

You’re shocked as if I jest

You insist that everything’s great

When we all see it’s cut rate

You don’t see me

Until your accounts bleed red

It affects your bottom line

Your children aren’t being fed

Then you take the time

To turn in my direction

Finally, finally, finally

You see the mass infection

But you blink and it’s gone

And I am Black being wrong

Cause you don’t see me.

©️August 2017

WE FALL DOWN

We fall down

Get knocked down

Get locked down

We get back up

We’re held down

Get pat down

Get shot down

Enough is enough

Name the reason

It’s open season

On me and mine

First driving, now walking

Our only crime

I lay wake nights

Seeking insights

What’s the future for me

For my sons and their sons

The sons yet to be?

We fall down

Get knocked down

Get locked down

We get back up

We’re held down

Get pat down

Get shot down

Enough is enough

Now we must stand up

Sit in, lie down

Whatever it takes

To change minds, open hearts

Until the cycle breaks  

Now we must stand up

Sit in, lie down

Whatever it takes

To change minds, open hearts 

Until the cycle breaks 

Now we must stand up

Sit in, lie down

Whatever it takes

To change minds, open hearts 

Until the cycle breaks    

We fall down

Get knocked down

Get locked down

We get back up

  

We’re held down

Get pat down

Get shot down

Enough is enough

You say you fear me

But clearly

Something is wrong

You tell one lie that multiplies

After you’ve shot your gun

Labeled other

Not brother               

Leads to a flood of tears

Declared guilty before innocent

Just to assuage your fears

We fall down

Get knocked down

Get locked down

We get back up

We’re held down

Get pat down

Get shot down

Enough is enough

We fall down

Get knocked down

Get locked down

We get back up

We’re held down

Get pat down

Get shot down

Enough is enough

   Enough is enough

       Enough is enough!