Alan's Page

When I was a child speculative fiction taught me to dream with my eyes open and to let go of my life, if only for twenty minutes at a time. To lose myself in the pages of a comic book, were welcome breaks from the “real world”. But in reading the comics like the Justice League or Actions Comics,…

Imprisoned by the fear of pain

    you sit in distain

Never to venture out

    bound tightly by doubt

Holding tightly your tea and keys

    you read of a distant sea

Hoping to find a line

    to set free your mind.

I was a teenager during the height of the “missing and murdered children case” here in Atlanta. I remember one frantic evening when my younger brother was late getting home from a school event. I remember my mother breaking down into tears as we searched. We found him safe and sound, but you never forget the times you see your mother cry. Those moments are seared into your soul. Then, how much worse is it for the Trayvon Martin’s mother?

But what if?

What if there was no audio…

I've been burying my prayers

holding them down

beneath the ground

I've been burying my prayers

do they make a sound

will they be found

I've been burying my prayers

under a red clay mound

my love is bound

I've been burying my prayers

where hearts no longer pound

and hopes drown

Our heavenly places transcend

time and space

life and death

flesh and spirit

Where are our heavenly places?

in the beginning of a new day

in the midst of confession

in the end of a journey home

Where are our heavenly places?

in submission to God

in the breath of our prayers

in the silence of our fears

Where are our heavenly places?

in the love of our children

in the…