Far and Fast

I jump a step, my momentum is

the only fulcrum

as I bounce.

Feet to pound

Knees to ground,

I move to be free.

Their heels are striking behind,

clacking on the dry sediment.

They follow behind as I bound ahead.

A rising star animates the glowing distance behind us,

For us.

Everything dead and dry,

But I am the only thing alive.

My heart is skipping.

My body fighting everything in the way,

In every way.

3 mountain sides to climb

3 more lands to conquer

under my feet

I smile because I can.

I can run,

And I can smile.

I also grit my teeth to the pain,

But I know without, there is no gain.

Aleena smiled.

Her teeth sparkled and hope burst in her eyes.

She ran, far and fast, out of this place,

Found a future and wealth beyond this space.

She conquered many a mountain side

With kilometers marked on her feet.

Sometimes I run.

I run to school to learn from the strangers.

I run to press my body on.

I run because the searchers only want the fast.

I run to think for my family.

But sometimes I just run, far and fast,

to see who will free me from this cast.

Image from "A Day in the Life of Africa"

Original poetry by Erin Thomas

I Apologize

Honesty flowing out of me,

it is Katrina over a broken levy.

Levies broken so soon.

I will not swoon

for Katrina.

And I apologize but will not sympathize

 for a loss without a gain.

One in which,

 I watch.

Pitter patter,

waiting for the dismissal

Of words,

hopes,

dreams to spare.

Ones that, I really wouldn’t dare

Let escape.

A bag of winds,

Hold tight.

Threading and pulling as winds prevail,

pulling the ropes sail after sail.

I will seal it shut, the best I can.

To let it escape, I would not dare.

 I said I wouldn’t,

and I thought I couldn’t,

but the levies couldn’t hold

 as the honesty

flew out of me.

That Katrina with no shame.

I begged and pulled the bag of winds closed,

the pandora’s box with fate’s return.

I apologize. 

Original photography and poetry by Erin Thomas

Morning Glory

Silk stalk of a bulb, bloom

Covets the sweet sunshine and

Requires the splash of warmth

To beckon honeyed petals into exposure

Creeping into a valley of anticipation

In the crack of a door,

Blooms lose sight of home

While searching for new.

The new has no silver poison

And no danger of paralysis.

Whilst en route to "

Stems Crack "

However, Glory, overlook the

Early worm. The silver lining kills.

It comes early when petals are bare

To crack a could with a faulty snare.

Original photography and poetry by Erin Thomas

I can dance in the room of uniform

I can rest my forehead on an arm bound in geometrically stitched sweater, while imprints of repetition dent my skin.

I can stare down past a marked desk to a floor imperfectly scuffed through square uniform tiles, as my eyes trace each nuance.  

I can follow the leg of a chair with my eyes to see the same pattern of nature’s lines in treated wood, not specialized from a mass production.  

I can sit and lean forward in a room where an entire hallway is doing the same.

I can turn and glance into a mirror of similar dimension to four hundred.

I can write on a page of paper with the same blue measured lines from any other book of college ruled determinism.

I can walk the same path that was beaten down and torched by too many before.

I can repeat the same history that has pounded the shape of today,

Or I can dance in the room of uniform. 

      Original poetry by Erin Thomas

Into My Own

Original photography by Erin Thomas

Excerpt from "Into My Own" by Robert Frost

"I do not see why I should e'er turn back,
or those should not set forth upon my track
to overtake me, who should miss me here
and long to know if still I held them dear.

They would not find me changed from him they knew -
Only more sure of all I thought was true."

Photos From a While Ago

Ai Weiwei: A Man With a Vision

 If you have not heard of Ai Weiwei, you need to watch this TED talk right now. He is an artist/activist/entrepreneur who bravely takes a stand for freedom everyday of his life. He is an inspiration for us all.