Voices of Advocacy

1. Voices of Advocacy

The dead don't complain, because The dead don't speak nor carry tales Adding gracious silence to the Graves But, untold stories in bereaving eyes Fear reposing in the eyes of the dying “Hearing a funeral in their brain” Few survive, the others die Hope for some and for rest a lie But the dead lie quietly waiting for us to Rise And so from the silence New Lazarus' arise to rise Voices from a single note to orchestrated symphony Voices of advocacy A tribute to the dead And a gift to the living

2. I Wear a Mask

Like a zombie I am on a one-way street My guts wrench or retch to come out I try dutifully to stop them As oral sores burn holes in my tongue My counts drop like pressure in the cabin Sometimes I wear a mask For the sake of my children or aging parents Clumps of floating hair remind me there is more to come Who do I believe and turn to? God, God-men, the Doctor Or my subterranean subconscious I cannot hurt my dear ones any more I laugh and I cry, with an upset family And more embarrassed doctors —Rama

3. Hush! Hush! Little Girl

Mama, I won't give my hair To the lord of the seven hills Mama why did Aunty Abili die? Scaly flat like her parchment prayer Bald and no hair upon her head Mama why do you withdraw like a snail within its shell as if a giant crab beside the well is ready to engulf you Mama, why do you look so guilty? And say hush! Hush! Little girl You are too young to know But tell me mama I look so much like Aunty Abili If I give my hair to her Will she live again? or Will I also die young?—