The poem, Planting Seeds reflects on the intersection of farming and building solidarity in a new economy, and expands on Tannur's vocation of supporting the holistic growth of African American homesteaders reclaiming their relationships with the land in the 21st century. Operating as an affinity group for Historically Disadvantaged Beginning Farmers, specifically those who are descendants of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, the Homestead Incubation Program is a safe space for learning, healing, and development while taking concrete steps to turn the tide of land loss within the Black community in the US.

I remember dancing 

Around the broken glass 

Like playing hopscotch 

With my destiny


Barefoot on 7th street

Imagining the grass and trees


I remember always

Feeling country

The land called me

Incessantly


Flashbacks to Albany 

Where I came

To know

Affinity


To mud and lightning

With drudge and frightening darkness 

And friendships that transcended 

Feelings of my not-ness


Not cool or fun

Not interesting or pretty


Thought something missed

My personality

Come to find the only thing

I needed was capacity


I'd learn to share my thoughts in words 

Opinions with audacity


My Mom made stages for my pages 

I'd learn to share my poetry


And then a man named Garden

Took me through the woods and to the sea

A nice distraction from our neighbor

White supremacy


The sight of Black boys' bodies 

Laying still under white sheets 

Because they matched descriptions 

Of the Gods they were meant to be


The variety of the things I've seen 

Makes truth not hard to see


So when Black cowboys

Galloped on horseback through the hood 

The ability to make my way 

Became well understood


Life gives lemons, certainly

Can lead to sour mentality

I learned to clear my mind after some time

By planting seeds


Dirt under my fingernails

Soil between my toes

Alabama called me and made it known

She is my home


But planting seeds is more than farming

It's stewarding the minds

Of folks who feel the pull

To build together, better times


It's living by example

Lead with a sample of the Divine


And so the work continues

To share all that isn't mine

Knowledge and nature

Integrity and patience


With the ones who've come to find

That the system that we live in 

Won't last beyond it's time


And what comes next is heaven sent

It's angels of the Earth who connect

Through sprouting vines


And making change inside

That cannot help but shine


Gratitude to Elders who stewarded this Earth

And left it here for us to love

A right given by Birth


And now we work to share this peace

And our inherent worth

With progeny who soon will see

They're sons and daughters of the dirt

About the poet

Tannur is a Poet, Mother and Facilitator who travels the world sharing her gift and connecting dope individuals through deep interaction. As a poet and facilitator she seeks to build authentic relationships. As a homesteader and home-school mom, she seeks to learn from the people and experiences that impact her.