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“Rose Hill Church” by William Ferris
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Prayer
Dear God,
thank you for your love
and guidance
in my life.
I kneel before you
with a humble question—
will heaven
be a place
where everyone
is reborn equal
and evil
takes no root,
where colors
are colorless
and races
are raceless,
where everyone
speaks one language
and harmony
flows in every heart?
I come to you
for a sense of place.
If the answer
is yes,
I want to go
as soon as I can.
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….This poem was written after this William Ferris photo, and was originally published in Soulful Dancer: Photographs & Poems, by William Ferris, Photographer, and Jianqing Zheng, Poet [Blue Horse Press]
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Listen to Jianqing Zheng read his poem
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Jianqing Zheng is the author of The Dog Years of Reeducation (Madville Publishing, 2023) and A Way of Looking (Silverfish Review Press, 2021). He teaches at a historically Black institution in the Mississippi Delta.
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Listen to the 1983 recording of guitarist Pat Metheny, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Billy Higgins performing the Metheny/Haden composition “Waiting For an Answer” [Universal Music Group]
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Soulful Dancer: Photographs & Poems, by William Ferris, Photographer, and Jianqing Zheng, Poet [Blue Horse Press] [
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Click for:
More poetry on Jerry Jazz Musician
War. Remembrance. Walls. The High Price of Authoritarianism – by editor/publisher Joe Maita
“My Vertical Landscape,” Felicia A. Rivers’ winning story in the 69th Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest
More short fiction on Jerry Jazz Musician
Information about how to submit your poetry or short fiction
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