Poetry

By Paul L. Thomas, Ed.D. | Originally Published at the everyday motion of artifacts. April 2, 2014 j was young&happy (and everyone hated her for it) Happiness hit her like a train on a track… Happiness hit her like a bullet in the back “Dog [...]

Have I spent too much time worrying about the boys killing each other to pray for the ones who do it with their own hands? Is that not black on black violence? Is that not a mother who has to bury her boy? Is it [...]

1. smoke above the burning bush 2. archnemesis of summer night 3. first son of soil 4. coal awaiting spark & wind 5. guilty until proven dead 6. oil heavy starlight 7. monster until proven ghost 8. gone 9. phoenix who forgets to un-ash 10. [...]

Performed at the National Poetry Slam for Minneapolis's 2013 Slam MN!

 Text of “Rigged Game” (NPS 2013) Every day when I was five, my older sister would play teacher.
 Her students were me, my stuffed rabbit and an American girl doll,
 She'd line us up at the [...]

Might we consider a world where we no longer bicker and banter, a place where together we build the beauty other generations imagined and yet, never authentically pursued. Could it be that they, as we, adopted the precepts of peace and love, but we chose not to [...]

#OurMarch Sandra Khalifa Defends the Dream; in a reflection, a recitation meant to awaken a sleeping nation. Her prose are powerful, profound; they are the poetry of pain felt and released. In "‪My 2 Minutes #OurMarch #WeReady #WeComing" we hear the words of a Dream Defender who [...]

Yesterday at the 50th anniversary of the March On Washington, the time of Phillip Agnew (Dream Defenders) and Sofia Campos (United We Dream), two leaders representing our generation at the march, were cut. BUT WE STILL HAVE MUCH TO SAY. Two Minutes - #OurMarch: By the time [...]

Originally Published on August 12, 2013. BNV 2013 Prelims - Move! Brave New Voices 2013 - PYPM poets Alex Santiago, Jasmine Johnson, Nayo Jones and Kendall Allen perform Move You may have read or head the history before it was re-written. It was May 13, 1985 when [...]

MotherFather: A Poem by Travis Reginal I wake up at 3 in the morning with a pile of work I haven’t touched and deadlines that stand as daunting as skyscrapers and I think about you mother. I’m reminded of how at the end of [...]