Amplified

The air is thick with moisture and smells of an energy that cannot be seen, only felt and heard.

With arms opened wide I shut my eyes, face to the sky, absorbing the waves that pass through the atmosphere.

The laughs, the cries, the music, the distant sound of raindrops falling onto the backs of working men and women.

All is full of life and amplified beneath a cloud blanketed sky.

Heat from chimneys rises and dissipates invisibly overhead.

A woman slowly makes her way down the gravel road singing "Solo Le Pido A Dios...."

We gave this day a name to keep track of where it goes and what's to come.

When did it become okay to stake our claim?

To whom do we hold the blame for the trembling earth below us?




This land is not our own.





We occupy our space on borrowed soil.

Belonging to no one, given names only by righteous invaders.

Betrayers of the moon walk lightly.

Go in peace and love her.

The night is not mine, nor will she ever be.

The clay that clings to working heels is not ours, nor will it ever be.

Ears to the earth, she breathes in pain.

These are the stakes that we claim.