To the life in a library
and a library in the living
to the spirits of people kept from
left from
undone by never being sung
to the dreams and schemes
of mamas and daddys
who plant deep seeds
when they teach their children to read
while they struggle to find food to eat
to ritmo y congo
y ukelele and
banjo
these beats are swimming - in a library thats living
in a library that's alive
not dead
and yet also they can be read
to the living in a library
to the uncles and the aunties
tias y tios
who knew above all
that truth is in stories
written with Creators glory
to dirt in the sky and colors in the road
to pages and pages of tells not shows
to pancit and arroz y chiles and chicken adobo
to all the things not meant to be there
and the circles of indigenous knowledge we share
to the herstories and histories silenced and removed
to the peoples who have lost land and home so rich folks could make loot
This is a new old space -
filled with ancestors grace,
elders embrace
for un-heard voices so real u can taste
caught forever in the middle of a book
a dream, a sentence, a meal for y'all
a rhythm, a library for the living
Uncle Al is giving to us all
