Tag: poetry

“Backpacks,” by Leslé Honoré

I came across this beautiful and heart-wrenching poem this morning (via): “Backpacks” by Leslé Honoré.

It starts like this:

When black boys are born

We mothers kiss their faces

Put them in carriers on our chest

Twirl our fingers in their curls

Show them to the world

Our tiny black princes

And when they start school

As early as 3

We mothers

Place huge back packs on their backs

And we slowly fill them with bricks

Read the whole thing here. Or watch and listen below.

BACKPACKS by Leslé Honoré from STOPTIME.LIVE on Vimeo.


A Poem I Wrote in Spanish After Reading Paulo Freire

Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Some 12 years ago I wrote the following poem-prayer after reading Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and some of his other writing on the church. I found it again the other day so am posting it here:

Hasta que haya la paz, no descansaré.
Hasta que las guerras cesen, no abandonaré la lucha.
Hasta que la justicia reine, seguiré leyendo, predicando, y gritando.
Hasta que haya una verdadera liberación humana, no dormiré.
Que vengas, Jesucristo. Que venga tu voluntad y tu reino,
como en el cielo, así también en la tierra.