Landback
Aaron P. Dworkin
Yellow magenta siphoning
Into darkened purple
Reflect the sultry landscape
A glimpse of turtle island
Through the lens of thievery
Buried in mosaic memories.
My toes bathe
Amidst prairie grass
I get to walk upon
As if its my own
But its not.
The disconnect that fills my Blackness
In a nation where an idea of greatness
Is still filled with the struggle
To realize an ideal
Not yet stumbled upon
Echoes in this vast open space
Full of indigenous ingenuity
Seeking to own what was once owned
But taken through bureaucracy and history.
A tragedy told
Through the laughter of eagles
Resonating through bald rock ridges
Towering over a mural of potential.
A movement materialized
From solemn whispers
Of an ancient wind
Creating a chorus
Arising from ancestral soil
Soiled by the indifference
Of descendants of a conquest
Designed with deceit
Yet veiled
With noble intent.
I am fueled by their roots
Resilient from a ransacked past
We are joined in pursuit
Of collective liberation.
Time tills a tapestry
Across nations within a nation
Where sacred streams
Drizzle wisdom upon a journey
Of reclamation.
Art provides a vehicle
For this journey of a generation
Seeking reconciliation
With a vigor not of vengeance
But of justice
Woven into the fabric
Of this coneflower vista
That is not a commodity
Where every breath
Binds my solidarity to this melody
Of not just a people
But a principle founded
Upon the tarmac of injustice
Where the cacophony of colonies
Informs the countenance of characters
Soothed by sumac
Who simply want
Their land back.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Named a 2005 MacArthur Fellow, President Obama’s first appointment to the National Council on the Arts and member of President Biden’s Arts Policy Committee, Aaron P. Dworkin is former dean and current Professor of Arts Leadership & Entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance. Aaron is a best-selling writer and poetjournalist having authored his poetry collection, They Said I Wasn’t Really Black, along with four other books including his memoir, Uncommon Rhythm: A Black, White, Jewish, Jehovah's Witness, Irish-Catholic Adoptee's Journey to Leadership, and The Entrepreneurial Artist: Lessons from Highly Successful Creatives.
Read more about Aaron here.
