Category: Columns

by Ernie McCray / November 26, 2024
 
The other night,
after I had laid my head down to sleep,
I transitioned into that stage
where one loses consciousness
before their dreams kick in
and then
a sign above a lab door appears
that reads
“Mad Scientist at Work”
and I cautiously tip-toe through the portal,
to music with an eerie unsteady beat,
and before me
a Frankenstein-looking-dude
puts the final touches on
a spine-chilling orange-faced man

Times of San Diego

A racist term for a Native American woman will be removed from nearly three dozen geographic features and place names on California lands, the state Natural Resources Agency announced Friday.

Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2022 signed a bill into law that bans use of the word “squaw” in future place names and ordered the agency to rename all places that used the slur, including on streets, bridges, public buildings and cemeteries, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

by Ernie McCray

As I surveyed a picture
taken at
my sister-in-law, Becky’s, 80th birthday party,
I couldn’t help but notice
how joyful she looked
all dressed in pink
and I began to think
that the way to survive the mess
our country is in
is by simply
enjoying to the fullest
the joyful moments we find ourselves in,
no matter how fleeting they might be
because these little breaks
will certainly be short-lived
in our reality
as a country,

by Ernie McCray

Come on America.
You vote for, perhaps, the most loathsome
excuse of a human being
ever born in the Milky Way,
then have the nerves
to talk a lot of bullshit
about how Kamala Harris
gave the election way.

Stop it, I say.
You’re way the hell off base,
as this election
was, aside from being laced
with strong traces
of sexism,
mostly about race.

by Ernie McCray

That poor excuse
for a human being
is going to the White House again.
And I was thinking about him
as I played
with Jackson,
my youngest grandson,
the other day
because at the same time
my mind was also
buzzing frantically

by Ernie McCray

When I think of
another Trump presidency,
I shiver to my bones
from just knowing
that he will,
based on his granted immunity
if he commits a crime,
devise, out of his love of dictators,
some yet to be seen
extremely obscene
form of autocracy
that will relatively-speaking
bring our society
to its knees.

by Ernie McCray

A Message for Some Young Brothers Who Have Got Some Serious Thinking to Do

I’d like to say this to you

young brothers

who’re backing Donald J. Trump:

you’ve got some serious thinking to do,

especially about that point-of-view

you have that we African Americans

have nothing to gain

through politics.

by Ernie McCray

I will forever remember

Kamala Harris

walking into a presidential debate space

at a nice snappy pace

with the most beautiful smile on her face

extending her hand

as she looked at what was to become her prey

directly in his face,

taking control, from the beginning,

by Ernie McCray

I look at the rocks
my young granddaughter, Marley,
has been painting
as one more thing
during these
extremely distressful times
that makes my heart sing,
that help me get through it.

by Ernie McCray

I’m so enjoying
these joyous moments
I can’t stop
going on and on
about it
with no apologies for it
for the reason that
for years an ex-president
who is seeking the presidency again
has been in our face
since way back when
day after day after day,
acting, literally, in the most melancholic
ways,

by Ernie McCray

I’ve enjoyed an incredible
amount of bliss
in my lifetime
but none of it
comes close to the
unbelievable happiness I’m feeling today
because my joys
have been momentary,
kind of here one day
and gone in a few days.

Like a moment when I stood proudly
wearing a warm smile of appreciation
as Arizona Wildcat basketball fans
cheered loudly
in commemoration
of my place
in the university’s sports history.

by Ernie McCray

I’ll forever remember
Snoop Dogg
at the Olympics
in Paris,
images of him
that range
from being quietly playful
and downright hilarious,
at all times gregarious,
embracing the spirit of the games
as though it was the dawning of the
Age of Aquarius,
carrying the Olympic flame
like many a blunt
he’s set aflame;