two poems
by Marc Frazier
My Plenty
Our world does not fall into
chaos but is a cosmos flowering around us—
invisible sutra running through it
an aura like the unconscious choices an artist makes
so that upon his work’s completion
the means and the end are the same
The world of my former God—
had any of it been about the living, really?
or a bridge to another world: heaven or hell?
what about the envied emptiness of now?
My former God an ossuary of old selves
We must put on new clothes, mustn’t we?
mine fit the hibiscus bush’s arms that reach—
bright red blossoms stun me into consciousness
as I count the number of them each morning,
a diviner reading my good fortune—
things matter if we bloom with awareness ourselves
as daily each extra blossom increases my plenty
Warrior
—Vanessa Redgrave at pro-Palestinian protest
banging a pot with a long spoon
she continues.
in a wheelchair spreading the crowd of protesters,
her family’s blood pulses with
this drive to take a stand.
eighty-eight years old and banging a pot
in support of the oppressed
the maimed, victims of genocide, the gassed,
the disappeared in a flash.
*
decades ago she was on their side
and paid the price
for proclaiming to the world
the soundness of her convictions—
documenting on film their plight,
she suffered the pro-Israelis wrath,
heckled and booed at the Oscars speaking
for these suffering people
whose voices went unheard,
except to her, accepting
the consequences on her life, her art.
unknown even to her
how decades later
their voices would be heard
and she, vindicated,
on the right side of history.
banging a pot with a long spoon
she continues.
BIO: Marc Frazier has published poetry in over a hundred forty journals both online and in print. A recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Award for poetry, he has also been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes and two “Best of the Nets.” He’s published poetry, essays, flash fiction, fiction, photographs, book reviews, and memoir. He has done numerous readings in the Chicago area and led workshops as well. Marc’s four poetry books from well-respected small literary presses are available online. His latest poetry book If It Comes To That recently won Silver in the Florida Writers Association best published anthology—Royal Palms Literary Award. Marc, an LGBTQ author, can be found on his Marc Frazier website www.marcfrazierwrites.com. X @marcfrazier45, Insta mcfj45, Marc Frazier Author on Facebook.