Praise to All Audacious

Praise you, people, moved to joy by this day of upwelling promise....

Praise to All Audacious

Praise to all audacious enough to rise.
Praise you, dough, full of wild yeast,
warm-wet, breathing,
breathing your best breath before the oven
fire-freezes you in its infernal embrace.
Praise you, birds, singing sun-songs through clear skies
and dark clouds. Praise you, thunder, you roll and quake
my little dog who rises to stretch, yawns and yaps for more,
more of everything but your boom. You, flower, unfurled
like a flag in a storm. You, thorn, curved to your most perfect point.
You, tree, rising tall to bend as winds fell dead limbs and leaves.
Special praise for you, heart, upon hearing music
or witnessing love, and you, voice, brave-joining song so quiet-
quietly at first but then, full singing.
Most of all, praise you, people, moved to joy by this day
of upwelling promise. You flood American streets
with shouts and tears of sweet relief.
May you, audacious souls, rise
and rise
and rise
and carry all the world up with you.

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Matt Layne writes…

Recently, a photo memory popped up from February, 2015. Marriage equality had surprisingly arrived in Alabama, and people were gathering at the Jefferson County Courthouse, (the courthouse made famous by Andrew Glaze's amazing poem), to celebrate justice and to finally become legally married. I drove down and saw friend and loved one after friend and loved one outside the courthouse. The mood was so ecstatic that not even the feeble protests from the homophobes dampened the spirits of that good day. My friend Gwendolyn Griffin was there with a hand-painted LOVE WINS sign. She had to leave for work or some other engagement and bequeathed her sign to me, and the next thing I knew my photo standing in front of the courthouse holding her sign went out across the country. Seeing that photo again, I am struck with what a powerful message those two words carry: Love Wins. Love wins. Always.

Things seem pretty dark and disgusting and without hope at this moment, but we have love, loves, and we are going to continue to fight the good fight until every last bit of fascism is quashed in our good country. That's the place where Praise to All Audacious comes from. That feeling deep down inside of praise and joy and love that bubbles up in the face of bullies and fascists. We might get knocked down and dragged around, but we are going to get back up and rise and rise and rise.

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“Praise to All Audacious” appears in Miracle Strip, released August 31, 2022. The music is “Morning Star” from the album Buffalo T-Bone by Ned Mudd.

Miracle Strip, a poetry collection by Matt Layne, is a unique hybrid of the written and spoken word. Each piece of the collection has an end-stop embellishment QR code which, when scanned, transforms the reader into a listener. Layne has recorded each poem, often with the accompaniment of musician and poet, Ned Mudd. The first line of the book invites the reader to “tell me your story, and I will tell you mine,” in the campfire tradition. In Miracle Strip, the reader and poet embark on an experiential journey of memories and the ghosts who haunt us.

Miracle Strip by Matt Layne is in print! Get your copy today!

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Poet, librarian, raconteur; Matt Layne has been poking hornet's nests and looking under rocks for lizards and snakes since he was knee-high to a peanut peg. His debut multimedia poetry collection, Miracle Strip, had been awarded the 2025 Alabama Author Award for Poetry and was named the 2024 Book of the Year by the Alabama State Poetry Society. Order your copy today.

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