Skip to main content

All of Us (Sasha Massey - Lafayette, LA)

We have so few days to be good to people. No matter how hard they work against an established pattern or what little good they acknowledge in themselves. What remains is that while we live and learn we have to keep teaching. The choice to help the poor or shame them can be taught.  Aside from biases set up to defeat black and brown people we have what seem to be the same chances as anyone. It’s a bitter thing to live every day with the stress of fear and exclusion, but when we choose good it makes the world better. People folding up like lawn chairs for a lie they were sold are just as likely to turn away and accomplish true good in the world. Hate, poverty, and the violence and limitation of rights of women are not ‘us or them’ problems. They are Human problems. We can solve them. We can heal the world if we work together for good. To protect children. To grant every access to a full education of their home, our world which further enriches and improves the future they will grow up in. Woman can have full rights over their bodies, their skills and their families. Males can be taught true respect of all people. No matter their age, skin color, where they come from or what genitals they have. Homeless people can be taken care of just as well as terminally ill and elderly people. They can be reintegrated into society and have proper homes, food and care. These are just a few things we can do, but for this to work and last…it’s going to require everyone striving together for a common good. Not just one social group or religious sect. Not just poor people pooling all their money. Not just rich people and corporations finally paying their fair share taxes. 
All of us.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Louisiana Words Remembers Jorge Arturo

There’s nothing that hurts more than when we lose someone from our Louisiana Words family. But, the beauty of our writing movement is that the words of our loved ones live on with us.   On June 20th, 2023, Louisiana Words Allstar, Jorge Arturo, moved on from this world leaving our hearts broken. He was a charismatic and talented human being. Jorge resided in New Orleans, LA and had been active on Louisiana Words for over a year. To honor Jorge’s life and work, we will be sharing his writing and live performances all Summer 2023. Please help keep his spirit alive by sharing his work. We know that Jorge’s words will connect with our readers and we hope to keep his spirit alive.  Jorge’s first submission: “The Dog Show” debuted on February 6th, 2022 and is his most successful piece to date. In 2022, Jorge spent 10 weeks in the top with “The Dog Show,” “Weavers,”  “They Say Love Kills, This Time It Really Did,” and “If Hell is Real, It Looks Like an Airport.” His last piece was “Fairy Tale

Fairy Tales Can Kiss My Ass (Jorge Arturo - New Orleans, LA)

    You were so certain when you got tucked into bed every night that the fairy tale stories rocking you to sleep would be waiting around the corner; waiting to cradle you in their ancient hands and see you through to your happy ending. And it was a naïve smile that learned to settle on your lips as you watched pieces of that magical story get chiseled away, and reshaped, and often even annihilated by the road put out in front of you. So maybe the mother didn’t survive. Maybe the father was too preoccupied with his own grief to remember the teary-eyed child begging him for for safety.   Maybe you didn’t grow up beautiful. Maybe you didn’t grow up strong. Maybe when you sang songs they were out of pitch, and no forest critters came soaring to your aid. But, if nothing else, the fairy tale promised romance, you assured yourself – a savior atop a white steed who braved through the tragedy and saw someone worth saving on the other side of it. And you were so desperat

The Man Under the Water (TK Craft - New Orleans, LA)

              Sitting at the edge of the small motorboat, Jordan willed himself to take deep slow breaths. Every time he opened his eyes and looked out at the endless water; panic began to overcome him.  Against the vastness of the ocean his small frame felt like almost nothing, this sense only made his fear grow worse. All he could do was stare out at the still surface for what felt like hours trying to gather the strength to jump into the depths.              When he was fifteen, Jordan almost drowned in the ocean. He hadn’t been particularly frightened of the water till that day. In fact, he had no real emotional connection to it at all. He’d taken swimming lessons every summer so when the riptide carried him further out to sea he didn’t panic. He just reoriented himself to the shore and dove down to begin a swim towards land. That’s when he saw him glistening in the depths.             Jordan was proud of himself for sitting on the edge of the boat as long as he did. He spent the