Miami University

It was a hot day in Rwanda. But not just any hot day. It was one of those hot days where you felt like the thick hot air was almost suffocating you. There was a kind of haziness in the air that made the day seem as if it were a dream, and not a day that actually took place. I looked around with fear at all the crying people as we huddled together in a Nyarubuye Catholic Church. I couldn’t move an inch, for about 2,000 other Tutsis surrounded me.

Sometimes the only thing you can do for people is talk to them.

just what is needed—to take the attention away
from the half that won’t graduate, the already deprived,
the prophets in Springfield have been busy today,

already half asleep, in class half alive,
the moments add up to years steadily taken
from the half that won’t graduate, the already deprived,

reading, writing, arithmetic—a Trinity forsaken,
in silence each morning, they stand misled
the moments fade into years readily taken,

if God is a textbook, then God is dead
not computers or books—but prayer we seek?
in silence each morning, we stand misled,

To past, present and future cultures and communities

Friends
My friends are the nicest people I have
but why are they so different?
They talk, eat, sleep, and breathe the same
however, they are still so different.
Am I the one that is different?
Am I the one that stands out?
Do I not act like my friends?
How am I supposed to act, what am I supposed to say
Should I have the same beliefs, same culture?
Should I let my friends define me?
I am confused
I never thought it would be this hard to figure out who you are.

She was late again. The smallest things were starting to set me off these days. Jessica would come home late from working with her patients, not have dinner prepared when promised, and not have my laundry done when I needed it. I cracked open another beer while I paced up and down the kitchen. Our friends would be here any minute to pick us up, to go out to dinner, and to watch a hockey game. Jessica had never been to a hockey game and I was excited to teach her so much about the game I loved. But, her being late was making me extremely anxious and angry.

Lesbian.
Phonetically, not especially endowed.
More blunt than tactful, really.
Strong, though, and solid as a rock
With a permanent feel about it.
This is no word to fool around with
And no slapped on description.
No, this is an “I Am” word
A word of existence, of being, of defining.
Other words, they come and go on my lips
Carelessly borrowed and easily lost.
But to say “I am a lesbian”
That is a much harder line to cross.

Lesbian
It stands out alone, defiant and defining.
I reject it first, ugly I say, confining
But when no ones looking, I steal a glance.

Have you ever looked hatred in the eye?

I’ll never forget those eyes. The last time I saw them, they were empty. They evoked no feeling; they had no soul. Even before that, they portrayed nothing but fear: not just the fear one feels when it’s dark outside after a scary movie. This was a fear that makes my stomach nauseated every time its image takes over my brain. I have attempted to train myself to think only of those eyes the first time I came in contact with them, the first time I knew I was in love. It was then that those eyes totally captivated me, showing nothing but compassion.

The monotonous bus bumbles along and i am it’s monotonous prisoner.
Heater is broken today. hands in my pockets, breath like cigarette smoke i lean my head against the
Ember tinted window and look out.
Ramshackle school buildings and desolate ghost-town playgrounds
Everything is so dead in this burn-out city, i say. the bus lumbers around the corner, and i see graffiti:

“I had almost run out of breath by the time i caught up to freedom”
Somebody made it out, i think, smiling to myself. i get off at the next stop and walk.

(This is submitted as a paper/proposal that will be submitted to social service or non-profit organiations).

Help With Hunger: COMMUNITYCARES COUPON
Helping the hungry without supporting the habit

Rhonda Gilliam-Smith, Doctoral Candidate

Dept. of Educational Leadership
Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
November 12, 2007

The goal of the CommunityCares Coupon is to provide a venue for concerned citizens to help feed the poor and hungry people in Cincinnati without supporting any habit they may have by giving cash money.