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This is a Love Song

By Zahara Heckscher

          for Amy Goodman

This is a love song
to the invisible waves
that travel through the air
finding the antenna
of the small drum
that passes messages
to the nerves
inside

This is a love song
to the one who knows that wisdom
is in the way we ask questions,
and who wields questions
like a sword beaten
into a plow, planting seeds
that will grow into millet
and mangoes and magnolias,
sustaining earth & her children
generations of grain & flowers

This is a love song

This is a love song
to those who answer

This is a love song
to all the hands we do not see
drumming invisible waves of sound

This is a love song
to the knowledge that invisible
things can be as real
as a rock
this we know because
hate is as real as lead
love is as real as blood
radio waves are as real
as thousands of people marching
for justice
nerves demanding action of limbs
fueled by the sound of
the drumbeat
inside
Added: Thursday, August 10, 2017  /  Used with permission.
Zahara Heckscher

Zahara Heckscher, daughter of an immigrant and a refugee, is a writer, educator, mother, and social justice activist. She is the Chief Poetic Officer of The Poetry Game Project and the author of the poetry chapbook Forgetting is My Superpower (2017). Zahara is the co-author of How to Live Your Dream of Volunteering Overseas (Penguin, 2002), a book Noam Chomsky called “informed, sensitive, and comprehensive.” Zahara writes about progressive approaches to international volunteering as a contributing editor at Transitions Abroad. Her articles have appeared in books, magazines, and newspapers including The Washington Post. Zahara’s activism dates back to her 4th grade classroom, where she removed her shirt to protest a sexist dress code. A Cancer Thriver, Zahara’s recent political work includes three arrests protesting the TransPacific Partnership. She facilitates Poetry Game workshops at public schools, faith communities, and the Writer’s Center.

Other poems by this author

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