"Evolution"
Virdajean Towns-Collins

In the sixteen, seventeen,
and eighteen hundreds,
a black man was still
considered a boy
even if he lived to be one hundred

In the nineteenth, twentieth,
and twenty-first centuries,
a black boy is consider a man
at nine years of age
if he's involved in criminal activity.

Oppression by any means possible.

"The Fog"
Curtis Esters

It's been very foggy here in Chicago for the past few days. I've noticed that fog can be both threatening and beautiful at the same time.

There's something so dark and lonely about the fog. It brings back memories of the Wolfman, vampires, and ghosts.

It's amazing how powerful fog is. It moves slowly off the lakefront and engulfs the city. All the skyscrapers downtown disappear. It can bring air travel to a halt.

Ships at sea fear the fog. On the open waters fog can limit your vision to less than two feet. Because of the denseness of fog, it cuts down your ability to hear. There's a dead silence in the fog.

There's recorded history of thousands of ships and hundreds of thosands of sailors that vanished at sea—all victims of the fog.

The fog is eerie and mysterious. There's always something out there. When in the depths of fog, you can't see or hear, but there's always something out there. Beware!

As life would have it, there's also a beauty about the fog. In the San Francisco Bay area, there are certain times of the year taht each night the fog appears off the Bay. It rolls into the city with unstoppable force and captures all. The next day, the sun rises and burns off the fog and brings a lovely day.

We are at the mercy of Mother Nature. May she be kind to us, and let us respect her limitless power.