We Don’t Like The Truth

I know sometimes we don’t like the truth.
We don’t want to hear it, especially from ourselves.
We would rather listen to the lies we tell ourselves inside our heads.
The words that remind us that we’re not good enough, not ready yet, not quite, almost, too much, too soon.

But we know the truth.
We may not want to face it, but we know it.
The truth will do more than set us free.
The truth will turn us around, upside down, inside out, make us stand on our heads, stand on our toes, reach for the stars, dig down deep, make us be.

No, we don’t like the truth, but we know it.

©2008 Kim L. Ford

I Ponder a World, Part 2

I woke up on Wednesday to a different world. A world full of possibility. It wasn’t until I accepted the reality of the election outcome that I allowed myself to fully feel what had been bottled up for so long. It was simple. It was hope.

©2008 Kim L. Ford

I Ponder A World, Part 1

I sit here today and ponder a world with a black American president realizing that just a year ago I didn’t really believe, much less imagine this could happen in my lifetime. I also realize that no one person can be everything to everyone and that undoing the last 8 years will take more than the 4 upcoming. And it will take more than one person. But I know that the first is the one that takes the hits, the lumps, the name calling, the insults, the slurs, and everything else that comes with that role. I also know that because they take all that abuse with grace and equanimity, they prepare the road for the rest of us. This man that would become president may not be the progressive/left/revolutionary that we want, but he his the hope of what is needed and what can be done.

©2008 Kim L. Ford

If

(for all little girls who dream)

If I were free to speak my mind

I would tell them how it was.

How it was to grow up a girl child.

A black girl child in amerika.

With all the lessons, spoken & unspoken.

How it was to be told what to do & how to do it.

How it was to hear what others wanted, but never to be asked what you wanted.

How it was (is!) to be a thing, a body, a tool for someone else’s use.

To fulfill their expectations.

I would tell them what it feels like to awaken knowing that there is more.

I would tell them what it is to grow, to reach, to stretch for the sun, the stars, the moon.

To be a part of everything that is spirit.

To be me

If I were free to speak my mind

I would tell them about me.

©2008 Kim L. Ford

PAPER

Where is that piece of paper, that blue piece of paper?
Or maybe a red piece paper?

That piece of paper that said who I was,
When I was being too many things for too many people,
For too little.

That piece of paper that began something.
Maybe a story, my story. Maybe not the beginning,
But the end.

I look again; I know it’s here.
That piece of paper wants to be found, to be read.
I find it – it’s purple.

©2008 Kim L. Ford

memories

reality, dreams, body, soul
recollection

old, new, forgotten, remembered
reminiscence

mine, yours, too many, none
remembrances

our memoirs
who's memories

©2008 Kim L. Ford

My Return

It's been a minute since I've been here. Had a chance to ask some questions, do some reading & some ruminating. I think I'm ready.

Redemption Songs - Grandmother's Songs

A mixture of old world & new
Jamaican & American
The lilt of an accent
A history lesson taught
both in words & doing

Freedom
America, land of new beginnings
Hopes & dreams, Fulfilled?
What did she know at 16
this giver of comfort, healer of pain

Gospel truth & true gospel
religion & spirituality all in one
Her church was lost to her
She never lost her God

Passing peacefully one evening
Greeting her husband once again
Saying farewell to us all
Visiting me later, at night
Sitting on my bed
Talking, listening

I learned so much from her
Those last months
She said so much
She gave so much

Redemption songs
Grandmother songs
Believe in yourself
What got her through
Gets me through

©2008 Kim L. Ford

First Day

First blog, first post. Well, I've talked about doing this long enough. So here I am. I don't know where it will lead, but I welcome the journey. So there it is. First blog, first post.