Celebrating National Poetry Month

 

 

 

Generation Asante

 

“It’s the little things citizens do. That’s what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees.”

–Dr. Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

 

Professor

you planted effervescent pardon

Gaia whispered in your ear

bark pipes up and down

under the earthworm’s umbrella

those signs

a resting place for weavers

dangling, their home, a ball of wonder

surround sound

pulsating from their

sunshine chakra

 

Neema races

at Little Paws Montessori

generation asante

verdant flags clapping

there’s a dervish on the loose

awaken now!

inhale!

that’s oxygen, baby

movement

born of one woman’s fingers digging soil

To learn more about Wangari Maathai, Founder of the Green Belt Movement, please visit: http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/wangari-maathai/biography

 

Jacob’s Bridge

for my son, Providence, R.I

 

I want that bridge

“gib”

that’s what you tell me

every time we cross

Chicago’s full of rusty remnants

subjects of my early photographic obsessions

I sit, sip and miss you

your father

reveling in this moment

reverberating conversations

starlights on winter branches

I see the perfect bridge in Providence

It’s called the I-way

disappointed, I search for a romantic story

here’s something, it’s the second bridge

to be floated down the river

just one piece, blue

with shine lights

no one knows my plans to fold it up

pack it in my rolling duffel

missing you more I find

a medieval plot to rob, but wait, I just received word

it’s called the India Point Bridge

it serves as cover for pirates smuggling mermaids

where knock-knock jokes fall from wooden chests

pizza crust grows on mangrove trees

this too shall be our adventure

one moment, a mother traveling alone

bubbles, pink carnations and the dying light of dinnertime

Love and Light for your Tuesday!

Rebecca Villarreal is the author of The Amazing Adventures of Selma Calderón, a Globetrotting Magical Mystery of Courage, Food and Friendship (Mama Chelo Press, Fall 2014). Based in Chicago, this novel takes readers of all ages with Selma and her best friend Hurley, to Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Paris, Granada and Orcas Island. Selma’s insatiable curiosity leads her to experiment with her growing magical powers, conquer a bully, face a creepy principal and unravel the mystery of her missing parents. As a writer, performer and visual artist based in Chicago, Rebecca has been published in multiple literary outlets such as The Paterson Review, Gargoyle and the anthology Full Moon on K Street: Poems About Washington, DC. She has performed on television, radio and stage. Featured in The Washington Post and The Chicago Tribune, Rebecca remains dedicated to focusing on soulful resilience, documentation and invention. Villarreal utilizes verse, fiction, photography and mixed media to illustrate a moment, feeling or concept. She resides in Chicago, Illinois.

Photos by Tim Arroyo

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