Our Charge

Photo by Antenna on Unsplash

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The only thing more powerful than hate is love. - Bad Bunny, Super Bowl LX

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From “Poetry in Prison:”

Everyone is in prison, 
one way/ or another. 
And everyone is/
free, one way or another. 
The trick/ is to find 
your way 
to bear the story/
forth, so it shines 
in a listener’s eyes.

-Kim Stafford  from his collection, Singer Come From Afar, Red Hen Press, 2021. 

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Hello Seized Readers.

I hope you are doing well wherever you live.

Sometimes I don’t realize what I need until I receive it. When unexpected joy uplifts me, I am stunned. I find myself thinking, “Wow. I didn’t know how blue I was feeling until this wave of elation gobsmacked me!”

Does this ever happen to you?

On February 8^th, Puerto Rican star, Bad Bunny, astonished me. He raised my spirit to the sky with his jubilant performance during Super Bowl LX.

Born Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, Bad Bunny is considered to be the “King of Latin Trap” and heralded as “one of the greatest Latino rappers of all time” (“Bad Bunny,” Wikipedia, https://wikipedia.org).

He recently made music history at the 6^8th Grammy Awards with Debí Tirar Más Fotos the first Spanish language album to win a Grammy for Album of the Year (Wikipedia).

Photo of Bad Bunny by Comecoquito, found in Wikimedia Commons

The theme of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl 60 halftime show is one of unity and cultural pride. These rooted beliefs called to mind poet Kim Stafford. In my 9/29/25 Seized post, “Sisi Ni Moja,” I introduced the verse of this Oregon poet of peace. His poem, “Poetry in Prison,” which appears in his collection, Singer Come From Afar, expresses how we can restore goodness to our lives by sharing our stories. The ending stanza is at the top of this post. The last lines reflect my reaction to Bad Bunny’s halftime show: “The trick / is to find your way to bear the story / forth, so it shines in a listener’s eyes.”

This Latin rapper bore his story through song, and I, the listener with shining eyes, was pumping the air with my fists as I watched him from my sofa. He restored my faith in myself and all who are fighting the xenophobic violence and unconstitutional actions carried out by the U.S. government.

I penned an ode about this unifying performer. My poem is a rallying call to protest.

Photo by Ana Toledo on Unsplash

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Half Time

Sequimos aqui: 
We’re still here.
Bad Bunny: Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio,
Super Bowl LX Halftime Show

When you whirled in your off-white suit/ 
through the sugar cane, 
honored the Jibaros,/ 
street vendors, old men 
slinging dominos,/
the women 
by cinder blocks—/
heroes who created 
Puerto Rico 
care brigades/
because FEMA failed 
following Maria,/
When Ricky Martin sang 
your song,/ 
They want to take 
my river 
and my beach too …

Photo by Carl Kho on Unsplash

When you climbed 
the sparking 
transformer poles/
and named all the nations 
that make up 
the Americas,/
from Canada to 
the Dominican Republic,/ 
you swept us into 
your festival rhapsody,/
and we realized afresh 
that we must believe 
in ourselves,/
We must fight 
for our casitas 
of immigrants,/ the homes 
of our many gendered 
brave-hearts, 
of our struggling poor/
and hungry, 
of our disabled and those 
in health deserts/
no longer served 
by rural hospitals, 
of our neighbors 
who can’t afford 
basic needs.

Photo by Grab on Unsplash

We must raise flags 
for polar bears,/
for Bumblebees 
and butterflies,/ 
for birds and squirrels 
who no longer/ 
have homes as bulldozers 
and chainsaws roar,/
for our children 
and grandchildren 
inheriting/
a desolate planet, 
flame-raging 
and flooded/ 
beyond their nightmares. 

Photo by Designecologist on Unsplash

Our synapses will fire 
Roman candles/ 
in concert. We will 
organize, protest, agitate,

radiate our bloodied 
determination/ 
to replace blackouts 
with radiant vistas.

-Diana Ewell Engel
 Copyright Diana Ewell Engel

Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash

Share your thoughts about “Half Time.”

Who is lifting your mind and heart at this time?