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The Ebony Series

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The Ebony Series

The Ebony series is a product of a social dynamic in the US from my perspective. Late one night during a visit with my daughter. The question was asked, "Why this subject? What is your attraction to this culture?" My answer unfolded like an internet streaming video. Later (about 1:00am) I started typing that explanation for you. It seemed to work better in poetry than narrative. Here it is. Maybe the images will make more sense after you read.


ebony explained
dan mcbain 2010


talk to me my friend and help me understand.
how it is my country and my education
have helped me love you as a man.

why is it, my friend, when I move toward you,
to hear you speak,
I look for the joy felt when your humanity
becomes clear seconds into the grasp of your hand?

a hundred fifty years has changed our hearts,
our laws, our minds, this land.
still every generation witnessed the one before.

will my child and yours be the ones to discover
true zero, no impressions to dispel with acquaintance?

sadly I feel we share the faint evidence of fears
held before our time.
I find myself wishing to remove your fears
along with my own.

so is it our nature, yours and mine, to be most comfortable
with our own? is it that mystery of someone different that is
so powerful, so beautiful? or is the beauty real?