This poetical picture story is by Mike Hazard. It is part of a project called Peace House People. The work will be exhibited at Franklin Library in February, 2020. The project is funded by an Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.
BACK PORCH
Life surprises on the back porch
at Peace House.
Ellie listened to music while Shayna braided her waist-length hair. Shayna said, “Mama used to always say, ”˜Suffer for beauty.”™”
“When I look at this picture, I see a scene I have seen a hundred times in the neighborhood,” said the spoken word poet Fatima Camara. “I feel like I know these people even though we have never met.”
“When I look at this picture, I see
a blended family,” said the artist Bill Jeter.
A blended family is a perfect metaphor for the Peace House Community.
Life is good on the back porch.
I STILL LIKE TOMORROW
Stories are shared at Peace House,
the living room of Franklin Avenue.
People speak and we, the people listen.
Near the end of a meditation,
Soynavong Sivo Ravong witnessed
murders, violence, and the hell
that has been happening and will.
Then he ended, “I still like tomorrow.”
Born in Laos, he fought the Vietnam War.
It”™s the war we must remember is
also known as the American War.
“I stole a canoe to get out of Thailand.
I came to the United States in 1980.
I work with fiberglass in Lakeville.
I still like tomorrow.”
