CSTI Collective Poem

CSTI tastes like...

Sweetness and honey dew,
Like good coffee,
Or tofu and spice.
No, it tastes like citrus peach punch,
Like sweat and salt,
It tastes homegrown - like hope, a main course of comfort food that works for the common good,
It tastes like the salty tears of compassion,
Like victory,
Like our growth and liberation.

CSTI sounds like...
A sea of voices sharing ideas and building power,
A wind that is free, jazzy, and melodic,
It sounds like a Sunday rain,
CSTI sounds like trumpets -- trumpets playing heavenly melody, the trumpet of a strong elephant, the trumpets of dawn.
No, CSTI sounds like a drum, Korean drums, a gong -
it sounds like a heart song.
It is the sound of fan blades trying to move thick air,
the sound of birds, people, and harmony.

CSTI feels...
Hot, sweaty or may be cool and breezy,
It feels like a loud "Si Se Puede,"
It feels like a burning sun that brings the heat of passion, air thick with the sweat of hard work,
It feels like falling in love, like sweet nectar,
Like inspiration, caring, and
A struggle for a new world.

CSTI looks like...
A mosaic, a kaleidoscope, a tide pool,
It looks like children running through sprinklers,
A bundle of joy.
CSTI looks sexy. Y'all look sexy.
You look like a rainbow,
A storm rising, a tsunami of activists,
Like smiles and heads nodding and flip charts writing,
You look like all of our vision statements put together.
You look like a wonderful sunrise from the Atlantic to a sunset on the Pacific - from sea to sea - bringing the disenfranchised to the fold.
You look like compassion, equality, righteousness, love, understanding - this is CSTI -
You look like one of the most exciting experiences of my lifetime.
You look like revolution,
The world as I would wish it,
The future.
It looks like you and me.