Poem: "Capoeira Bachizado, June 20, 2009"

I wrote this poem for the students of King Chavez Preparatory Academy, many of whom I had the honor to teach this past year.

"Capoeira Bachizado, June 20, 2009"

Leaping, twirling, spinning
Their bodies hovering between the heavens and the mortal ground
Taking lift even if only for the briefest glimpse of endless possibilities offered elsewhere
Communal spirit mirroring an alternate reality not often found
On the unforgiving blacktops or the condensed streets offering up dead ends
No, here they pray together and their bodies become the Holy Spirit
Portals of possibility
Their smiles should be stitched on their faces
Tattooed to forever remind them childhood should be a place of dreams, not nightmares
Their instructors the melting pot,
Their joy infiltrating the souls of their students
I see before my eyes children unafraid
What a nice thing to glimpse
They clap and frighten away their fear
They send it fleeing
No more, they exclaim, shall I not stand tall
Shirts soaked in the sweat spilt from their spirits screams
While they chant for freedom
And find it within themselves