Took me three years to develop the film from my first campaign as a Nike full-timer. I blame the delay on all the cool people who haven’t let me sleep since.
When I Look Down, All I See Is Death
We don’t always kill children
But sometimes hunger and sometimes borders—
Sometimes regulations, updated policy,
Two more signatures before the insurance kicks in.
Sometimes the little idiots are born in the wrong place
Or the wrong time, like they don’t know any better.
Other sometimes, they forget their skin
Is too dark, too this, too that,
Too wrinkled, too blistered, too overwhelmed.
Sometimes no more money for smart bombs
So dumb bombs land in living rooms.
Sometimes disease and sometimes cures,
Sometimes a neighbor or a Facebook friend.
One sometimes it was an accident, and then
Another sometimes it just kind of happened
And no one could remember where nor when,
Who bought the gun, who shot first, if the coffin
Was one of those little ones or full-sized…
Or if it was three small coffins inside of a trench coat
Masquerading, a joke we all understand:
Three little bodies instead of one.
Yes, sometimes we kill children. Sometimes.
When Saw We Thee An Hungred?
When Jesus arrived at my doorstep
I was sleeping
But woke to the rapture
And the rapping
Of His hands on the doorframe.
In some sort of blackness,
I rose to answer Him.
Stood holy ground.
Saw His face but not clearly.
Knew that in darkness
My trembling savior waited.
And behold, I pierced not His hands
Nor wrists but His head
And then (I hope) His heart.
Sent Him back into the streets
Where my neighbors, too,
Would have their moment
To console or crucify our God.
Let His Days Be Long Upon This Earth
Ralph is an old man’s name.
Name of the fourth on your bowling team,
Leaning left to offset the weight
Of a new ball from the pro shop.
Name of a regular at the diner,
Cup of coffee, black
Two eggs, whole grain toast.
Name of another saxophonist,
Fingers still rippling, notes still escaping,
Suit still pressed and waiting.
Name of a man who was young momentarily,
But then checked the address a second time,
Picked up his siblings without a hitch.
I know that the world is a difficult place, raging with injustice and awfulness. And it’s also a place where these colors happen for no reason at all. Trying to hold both of those truths at the same time lately. (Photo from a while ago, feelings from always.)
Today I walked among the most regal of beasts. I stared into the eyes of their small children. I told them things I’ve always kept secret. I was in heaven and it was everything I thought it might be.
