DALITS

What is it in me that makes your perception of me

Why is including me just a means of excluding me

Is it I am not worthy of God's kiss because of this?

*Dalits is how I feel buried under these feeling

I dream of peace, love, and purity

But no one sees that in me

The list of my faults are long

I check the long list to try to change them all

But it is you that I wronged as my list goes on

Dalits is how I feel buried in the silence of unforgiven 

But asking forgiveness is just a sin

But this is how I know my place just to fit in

No matter where I place my shoes, no matter where I sit

I look inside for my own forgiveness, but how do I do this

When anyone sees my struggles, they are pushed back on me

Dalits is how I feel buried under the sweepings of leftover life.

Living in the night always wrong, never right

Proudly claiming the last place inline

No matter what I do, it is never good enough

When done with so much care and love

Alone I hear the father's wisdom as the forgotten son.

Dalits is how I feel buried under blocks of guilt.

Used to build a wall of silence shut off from the guidance

The respect I give the respect I receive is like tasteless *sabjiyaan 

©Copyright Thomas J. Dooley 2021

*Dalits the lost caste in Indian culture

*Hindi for vegetables 

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ANOTHER NORMAL

Normal is a mental fallacy of comfort; it is blindness to the confusion of every day.

We pull out a camera to prove the good we are, a good samaritan unaware of real pain.

Normal should be respect and kindness for others.

Diversity and inclusion in life to understand wrong from right

Normal is a concept that consistently changes for the social and political whores

Always wanting more grasping attention with every thoughtless post.

Normal should be knowledge and the understanding of what we can or can not see

Feelings overwhelming facts that feeling like a mental attack.

Normal is a comforting tradition lost is the original message consumed in greed.

Thinking what is true and free as many struggles to breath

Normal should be learning from the past to find the future. 

Explaining away the mistakes that are made, to feel comfortable in their hate

Normal is the comfort of living in a nation like it is home.

A feeling everyone should know.

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2021

 

 

THE HILL WE CLIMB (Inspired by the poem of Amanda Gorman)

Out from under the shadow of a never-ending ego 

The light of respect in the distance can be seen

The voice of optimism is no longer a dream

Hear the echoing sounds on the streets

Passionate words of justice and peace

The hill we climb over all obstacles and lies.

The journey is long, but on the other side, we will see the dawn.

A nation is broken into pieces with unresolved emotions.

We strive to fulfill the immigrant's dream.

To see their children grow up to be free and one day lead.

Through a child's voice, ancient ancestors sing.

Songs of amazing grace as every voice will ring.

The hill we climb to a destination of new life.

A celebration of all our difference, we will find

We grow out of remembrance when tragedy makes no sense. 

The pain we feel in this moment, the cure is in the journey up this hill.

As we strive for that glimmer of hope, we discover what we have always known.

With a passion for peace, this division we will defeat to one day see

America is a comforting home; it is my home; it is your home that everyone should know. 

The hill we climb to find the promised land on the other side.

What was once the words of a dream is now the reality.

In Malcolm, we found an example of passion through all means.

In Marten, we found the dream of peace.

In John, we found the good trouble that will lead.

In Harriet, we found an appreciation of what it is like to be free.

Together we have found the determination we need.

The hill we climb above a land one day will shine.

Bring light to all diverse faces as we become one nation.

The fire of passion today is quenched by the satisfying waters of tomorrow. 

With courage unafraid, we will defeat all this sorrow.

We must believe in this; we must believe us; we must find the trust.

Together we must have the courage to be it.

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2021

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