We Alive, Beloved Quotes

“When trauma's ghosts threaten to erase desires you penciled in,
And heartache makes a home in the marrow of your bones,
Sit with me, so we might hold a seance to resurrect your joy.”
― Frederick Joseph, We Alive, Beloved: Poems

“Am I wrong for wanting to christen a child with a name
Drawn from the wellspring of our ancestors,
Gift them laughter from my favorite movies,
Pass down the colors of teams I cherish,
Show up for them in the places I felt alone?

Could I bear the weight of a child's trust broken,
Knowing there was a way to protect them from it all?
As I yearn to press my own life into another,
I know evergreen love cannot be an everlasting shield
For Black children living as both miracle and target.”
― Frederick Joseph, We Alive, Beloved: Poems

“Why should I celebrate a nation
Where tomorrow remains a coin toss?”
― Frederick Joseph, We Alive, Beloved: Poems

“I don't want to be an interlude in my own existence.”
― Frederick Joseph, We Alive, Beloved: Poems

“Poverty can make you unsure
That you even enjoy food.

Who has McDonald's money
When there is food at home?

Make a plate at your Aunt's house
Because mommy isn't cooking later,

And you better eat it all, even though you're full.
Can't leave the table until you do.

Have you thought about kids in Africa?
World's weight on the edge of your fork.

When you stop overdrafting enough to enjoy
The art of a marbled steak and a glass of Pinot.

There is barely a need for cutlery, just fingers.
Tender morsels awakening something primal.

Hunger, once a cage, now becomes a passport.”
― Frederick Joseph, We Alive, Beloved: Poems

“My sort of love is soothing, like the brook
Behind my childhood home.
Loud enough to always find my way back.”
― Frederick Joseph, We Alive, Beloved: Poems

“In this country, Black futures are my reason,
Because our freedom is chiseled in the grooves
Of ancient stones. Older than gaslighting texts.”
― Frederick Joseph, We Alive, Beloved: Poems

“Does the divine reside on an unseen world,
or could it be nestled in the things that dare to love us
More than we love ourselves?”
― Frederick Joseph, We Alive, Beloved: Poems