Welcome home. I'm Dr. Tama, a minister, licensed psychologist and sacred artist. And this is Homecoming,

a podcast to facilitate your journey home to yourself. While I will provide weekly inspiration

and mental health tips, this podcast is not the same as personalized therapy. I'm so excited

you're on the journey. If you want to request specific topics or to submit a poem for me to read

on the podcast, email me at homecomingpodcastsatgmail.com. Also to build our community, don't forget to like,

subscribe and share. Let's begin. Welcome home co-journers. I'm glad you're here for another

episode. And I am just delighted that we have a poem submission for today. And I especially want

to read this poem for this episode as this is our last episode of February, which in the States is

Black History Month. And so this poem was submitted by Dominique Hinson. And it is entitled

Roots. These roots are hardy, buried deep under mother, gnarly and thick with ancient wisdom

and memory embedded in the rhizomes, branching and reaching deeper into mother. These roots stretch

out, twisting, chasing, pumped with blood, tears, joy, perseverance. These roots are big on

reciprocity. You water them, they bloom for you. You honor them, they honor you. These roots are

you. Me, we, us all, I'm the present. These roots were made in the image of the omniscient,

omnipotent one. We are one. These roots are your ancestors. You are the stems, branches, flowers

and leaves. These roots are your wide noses, African lips and dirty south hips. These roots are red

beans and rice, okra and cornbread, tomatoes off the vine. These roots are divine. These flowers

from the roots are culture. They are traditions passed down, some tweaked for the better. These

roots make us better, transitional beyond one dimensional. These roots be grandma's hands and

granddaddy's records. These roots are our music, the cookout. These roots be everything in between

and everything. These roots are our altar, praying to water these roots with progression,

compassion and healing, fortifying these roots with armor, Psalm 91 over these roots I pray.

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