Friday, June 19, 2020
Haiku Friday: Juneteenth
Today is Juneteenth.
The holiday celebrates the announcement of freedom to all slaves in Texas on June 19th, 1865. A Union General, Gordon Granger, read the federal orders to the public in Galveston, Texas, At the time, Texas was relatively remote and word that the Civil War had ended in April was inconsistently communicated.
Other than the Fourth of July, it is the only American holiday I can think of that literally celebrates freedom.
If you are wondering what this means today, I recommend this excellent essay by Nkechi Taifa.
So let's haiku about Juneteenth and all that relates to it. Here, I will go first:
I met a woman
Who was alive that day.
One lifespan away.
[It's true. When I was three in 1966, I met a woman who was 103. One lifetime separates me from Juneteenth. The harms of slavery are not so distant.]
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 formula and have some fun!
Comments:
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“What’s Juneteenth, Moma?”
“Slaves fine'ly learned they’d been freed.”
“Who kept it from them?”
Silence. A long pause.
Moma was thinking, thinking … then,
“White people. Like us.”
“Slaves fine'ly learned they’d been freed.”
“Who kept it from them?”
Silence. A long pause.
Moma was thinking, thinking … then,
“White people. Like us.”
A black landowner,
named Salls, would visit Mema
and Papa often.
Mema always had
coffee and coffee cake there,
for him to enjoy.
named Salls, would visit Mema
and Papa often.
Mema always had
coffee and coffee cake there,
for him to enjoy.
# posted by 
: 6:40 PM
: 6:40 PM
Freedom is just an-
other word for nothing left to
lose Janis Joplin
Free to stand up this
Juneteenth, for many there is still
nothing left to lose
other word for nothing left to
lose Janis Joplin
Free to stand up this
Juneteenth, for many there is still
nothing left to lose
I add this as a precursor To Christine's
The war was over
For two more years they waited.
Emancipation.
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The war was over
For two more years they waited.
Emancipation.
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