Monticello, This Day

Slowing ever down,
Not for age but for the joy
Being present brings.

Monticello near,
Years of fam’lies living lives,
I could never know.

Sally Hemmings here,
Once in Paris, coming back,
Fam’ly bonds too dear.

Freedom was right there,
But no one knows what her heart
Knew and why she stayed.

Last time I was there,
with my parents, long ago,
I knew nothing then.

Beauty of green hills,
Majesty of columns white,
Presidential world.

Now I know the truth,
Never simple, always more,
We are so complex.

Black or white is false,
In us each are seeds of all,
Bringing us to now.

Problems I can’t solve,
Hurts and cruelty, sapping life,
Hunted say “No more!”

On this day of sun,
Nearby hills so green and lush,
I can only speak.

Write my truth today,
Honor dark and light within,
As they blend outside.