POWER OF POETRY
Poetry and Elections
FROM HIRAM LAREW
Four Words Forward By Brenardo aka André Taylor Work, Hope, Love, Vote If we could eradicate apathy Dramatically We could take back democracy Emphatically We could play a part in starting to reduce Tragedies To Vote is more than Hope it is Strategy Love could decrease The numbers of people left behind or hurt
Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll all be asked to cast bal- lots in local, state/district and national elections. Now more than ever, the outcome of these elections is critically important. To help encour- age you to complete your ballot, I asked two favorite poets from Prince George’s County, Maryland, to share their poems about the impor - tance of voting. Here they are. Brenardo aka André B. Taylor (Maryland) has been writing for over five decades. His written words have been featured in countless newspapers, magazines, and poetry anthol- ogies. He is a veteran of stage, radio, and television, and the United States Navy. Diane Wilbon Parks (Maryland) is a poet, visual artist, and author who has written a children’s book and two poetry collections. Her most recent poetry collection is titled, The Wisdom of Blue Apples . Her artwork and poetry are on permanent display at the Patux - ent Research Refuge in Beltsville, Maryland. Hiram Larew is a retired food security specialist. He founded Poetry X Hunger to bring poetry to the cause of preventing and eliminating hunger. His latest book of poems, Patchy Ways , was published in 2023 by CyberWit Press.
It is not done magically But by us doing the Work Four words of note to quote Work, Hope, Love, Vote
The Full Landscape of a Poem - Vote By Diane Wilbon Parks
this torn landscape pushed up and prodded through as if we’ve knelt down inside the dense fields of what most of us have fought for, the right to choose – where we plant our feet, where we grow our green voices, where women make their own choices, where we pick the sweetest berries - the ripened fruit, where we plow the fields of our own dreams to untangle the roots of these fragrant united states - to heal the wounds of our past, where everyone is accepted, where history will not abandon us - will not be banned because of America’s broken pieces, broken people, broken promises; we will collect each vote as if it is part of a puzzle to fill the open spaces, the aching landscape, the gaps in between over indulgence and hunger, peace and war, limitless and limited, the haves and the have nots, the homes of plenty and the poverty stricken homelessness, the silver spoons and the waiting spoons, the fading education, the push for equal pay and equal rights, affordable health care, child care and senior care, we will stitch u.s. together for the first time, take each torn piece in this puzzled landscape, keep the democratic process through every counted vote, we will stand up, shout out loud through the dense fields of our voices - our votes, where every race, every culture, every man, every woman, boy and girl are accepted and valued and cared for, we will then be able to call this place the land of milk and honey, we will unearth anything that does not allow us the liberty to foster respect, truth, goodwill, and to heal; we are all represented in this poem: every letter, every word, every space, lined up shoulder to shoulder- heart to heart coming together in the full landscape of a poem – to vote.
Illustration 311105833 © Yana Lysenko | Dreamstime.com
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64—PATHWAYS—Summer 24
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