A few days ago I wrote the poem called Hush (words below). It was quite well received and I had a lot of requests that I read this piece as a spoken word. I was happily obliging that request  this evening (for #SpokenWordSaturday) when a melody came to me and I had a revelation that it would make a great lullaby-esque song. So I spent a few minutes on the piano and ukulele fleshing it out and this is the video I recorded at 3:30 am.

I’m not sure if this still qualifies as “Spoken Word” for Saturday but I’ve tagged it as such anyway :)

Hush

Hush inner monologue
Do not dog me here
This line is closed for tonight
I want to keep my mind clear

This is a video storyboard I have created for the dramatic reading of Equal: A Speech. I really feel passionately about this topic and I would love to see a message such as this be accepted by more than hippies like me. Below is a poetic prose introduction.

___

I am physical pacifist, a vocal activist, a man with a view of the world that is perhaps too simple; simple in theory, simple in strategy, complex in installation. I am one man who is a grain of salt beside humanity which is a grain of salt beside the universe and eternity. I am one man who holds no grudges even though I have been cut enough times to be nothing but scar tissue.

I see the man next door, the man next city, the man next state, the man next country, and I see a man. I see the woman from the city that beat my team, from the state that voted against my rights, from the country the warred against my homeland, and I see a woman. I see a CEO whose company put mine out of business, and I see a father, a brother, a son. I see a lawyer whose firm took my house through a loophole, and I see a wife, an aunty, a daughter.

I see common ground through breath and through heartbeat. I see common goals through my loneliness and their love. I see invisible walls between them and me because they do not see what I see.

I see peace, I see love, I see humanity.

I breathe, they breathe, I believe we are equal.