Category: From the Soul

by Ernie McCray

That shit ICE pulled in my old neighborhood
still sits with me,
all that rushing into town,
spraying gasses
and snatching people around,
ridiculously and literally laying siege on
a community,
fueled by a sick man’s
hatefulness and insanity.

And I can’t help but take it personally
because I spent 30 of the most wonderful years of my life
on the very block
this incredibly wicked abuse
took place –
a neighborhood as good as any to be found
any place.

by Ernie McCray

A “big beautiful bill”
it’s been called.
But that’s sure not what I’d call
a piece of legislation
wherein people
with more wealth
than some nations
are given tax breaks
while low-income families,
in need of any kind of break,
are facing changes in Affordable Care Act subsidies

by Ernie McCray

I came across a picture of me
rehearsing a scene
from August Wilson’s
“Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”
with two other actors,
back in the late 80’s,
if I remember correctly.

We were portraying characters
in a boarding house
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
in the early 1900’s,
grappling with their pasts
and who they are,
reaching for love
and promising futures,
up against a world

by Ernie McCray

I’m usually chill
but let me tell you,
it’s been a bitch
having to deal with
the shit
that went down
when ICE’s hoods
disturbed the peace
in my beloved old neighborhood.
Talking about people who are absolutely
up to no good.

But as I was going through
taped shows on my TV,
Bonnie Raitt, one of my all-time
Favorite musicians,
suddenly
came to my rescue

By Ernie McCray / June 11, 2025

So proud of my old neighbors,

Golden Hill/South Park folks,

standing up to Trump’s

Immigration and Customs Enforcement goons

who, out of the blue,

in a style much like a military platoon,

descended on workers

at Buona Forchetta,

one of the hood’s

fine eating places,

by Ernie McCray

My eyes have taken in
so much natural beauty
in my life,
as I’ve seen striking waterfalls
as I hiked
in Havasupai land
in the deep recesses of the Grand Canyon,
and in the wilds of Yosemite,
and I’ve watched in awe
as waves the size of buildings
crashed on the North Shores
of Oahu in Hawaii.

by Ernie McCray

There is so much around us
that can lift our spirits,
a song,
a poem,
a loving gesture,
a bright smile on
a handsome face
like the one of gratitude
on Eric Allen’s
as he received the news
that he had made the NFL Hall of Fame,

by Ernie McCray

The other day,
I kicked back in the sun,
in the spacious backyard
of my son’s new home,
celebrating
my little grandson Jackson’s
first year around the sun,
with family and friends,
and some of my other grandchildren,
mellow music playing in the background,
margaritas and juices available
for everyone,

by Ernie McCray

We have a president
who commits treason,
an offense that just happens to be
our country’s
most serious crime
and we haven’t called him out on it
at any time
which blows my mind
because there have been times
when engaging in trying to overthrow
the government
came with a steep price,

by Ernie McCray

As I read it,
the 25^th Amendment of the Constitution
says, to put it in a layman’s term,
that if the president,
when it comes to
discharging
the powers and duties
that the job requires of him,
is lacking,
then that president can be sent packing,
which should get us to asking
why we haven’t let our president go
on his non-merry way
since there is no one on earth
who could be more inefficient
at leading a nation
than the one we’ve got,

by Ernie McCray

As if our country|
isn’t in enough of a mess already,
our issues are compounded
when we pause
and reflect on
the biggest problem
we human beings face:
the show
Mother Nature
is putting on
as though she’s in a race
to erase our species from
the Milky Way,
ripping and tearing
here and there and
every which way,
bashing us
with winds
that blow
at velocities
unheard of;

by Ernie McCray

I find myself looking

for any hint

of hope for a better world

that might be in play

and I happened upon a wonderful example

of such the other day

as I listened to a proud Latina woman

at a community college conference

in Austin, Texas