New Day

The Abstract

on this long-awaited day we greeted the sun eager to tell it the different story we carried like an overburdening cross the length of these four years. we woke today full of prayer, breathing hope, weeping for the the missing and catching the fierce shouts of history remade though dark hate still looms in the […]

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Poetry by H. J. Recinos

on this long-awaited
day we greeted the
sun eager to tell it
the different story
we carried like an
overburdening cross
the length of these four
years. we woke today
full of prayer, breathing
hope, weeping for the
the missing and catching
the fierce shouts of history
remade though dark hate
still looms in the air until
together we bring it to its
knees to beg forgiveness.
today, after a threatening
storm, we watched the
celebration, the stories
great women bring to
keep the nation whole,
the dreams that loathed
human beings made when
conquered, dispossessed,
put in chains, beaten, lynched
and at last so free. today,
hatred could not find a place
in the heart of the nation’s
second Catholic president,
Dixiecrat politicians were out
of lies, and blue eyes were
removed from the flag to
have it wave the colors that
sweep across mountains, are
in every valley, and stretch
from sea to sea. today, we
took the first step toward
truth and removed masks
of grief to begin the long
walk to heal a broken nation,
hold the wicked accountable,
and claim the dream that keeps
us struggling to make a more
perfect union, again.

Harold Recinos is Professor of Church and Society at the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University (Dallas, TX). As a cultural anthropologist, he specializes in work dealing with undocumented Central American migrants and the Salvadoran diaspora.  He has published numerous articles and chapters in collections and has authored twenty books, including fourteen collections of poetry. His most recent poetry collections are Wading in the River (Resource Publications, ٢٠٢١) and After Dark (Resource Publications, ٢٠٢١). Cornered by the Dark will appear in November with Iron Pen, an imprint of Paraclete Press.