Respect and honor
to our
Black soldiers
brave and true
Highly decorated
but also
segregated
You went
and fought
one war
they told you
they needed you for,
wishing they didn’t
But we all know
you went
and fought
two wars
and won
them both
Thank you.
Welcome back
to your people
and
Welcome Home
to your country
too.
(Negasi is Ethiopian for ‘Royalty’)
The jungle rains
make smooth
the tracks of
his journeys,
and hide away
his bones
His kingdom
long emptied
of treasure
and people
and time
His throne
succumbs to
the loving embrace
of encroaching
tree branches
Vines of ivy
and small berries
the birds glean
in high summer
spiral round his
decrepit scepter
in
vernal abandon
Snakes
burrow
in the
holes
of
looted
gold
Drums
Dance
and
Ululations
of celebration
have turned to
morning
birdsong
The moonlight
Dirge
sung
as he passed
through the
mourning throng
has become the
chirring
of crickets
and the
croaking
of toads
But the
Strength
of his
Spirit
has
forever
altered
this land.
Author’s Note: This photo was taken at the Slave Museum. As the little girl’s mother was explaining what happened, she hugged the statue and said, “Everything’s going to be okay.” This is a poem that reflects that faith…
They sure tried:
To strip us culturally
To bend us spiritually
To break us physically
To give us second best
To question our humanity
To question our intelligence
They sure tried:
To stop us from voting
To stop us from organizing
To stop us from demanding
To stop us from marching
To stop us from praying
To stop us from fighting
To stop us from protesting
To stop us from singing
They sure tried:
To deny us access
To reduce our numbers
To convince us we don’t belong
To tell us we had nothing
they didn’t give us
To stop us from voting
To erase us from history
They sure tried:
To tell us to get over
the very history they
imposed
on us
They sure tried:
To tell us we’re violent
Ignorant
Beastly
Savage
Sexual predators
Dopefiends
Whores
and Pimps
and
Criminals
They sure tried:
To keep us illiterate
To keep us afraid
To keep us unaware
To keep us drunk
To keep us in vice
To keep us down
They sure tried:
To keep us enslaved
We tried too:
To be patient
To be non-violent
To suffer
To fight through the system
To die on our feet
But we got tired of trying
because they mistook
patience
for weakness
So we said
No,
and we said
No longer
And we said
No more
And we said
Our lives matter
And now they try
to say it’s our fault
they have to kill us.
And now, in 2016…
We find that
the
Tryal
is far from over
But if we stand
and work
and build
and teach
and love
TOGETHER
the verdict
is
Victory.
His smile speaks of contentment
I pray his times of discontent are brief,
though they are certain.
His hand on the windowsill
lingers between
exploring and safety
I pray that he ever be connected to home,
and adventurous in his exploration
His expression
is full of innocence
and peace
I pray that a fragment of
each remain resistant to a
frenzied, hostile world
His eyes,
so bright and clear
guide me back
to my ancestral
family
the way Polaris
guided the Railroad
passengers,
And gave them
Sanctuary
far,far away
from
Home.
I pray we find each other
and be complete
How regal our princes
How handsome, how bold
How bright eyed and dignified
Even when sold
How regal our princes
How strong in their ways
Though chased, caught and netted
And emptied of days
How regal our princes
How proudly they stand
In shivering sickness
Inside a sick land
How regal our princes
Imprisoned in chains
And beaten and broken
For freedom took pains
How regal our princes
Their blood flowing down
Their hands pricked with nettles
Their skin glistening brown
How regal our princes
Their voices that sang
Of freedom and justice
As white church bells rang
How regal our princes
Their sacrifice great
With hope their descendants
Would not bear this weight
How regal our princes
We thank you, we do
There would be no us
If it wasn’t for you
How regal our princes
Now faded with time
Remembered and honored
In this humble rhyme
Across the miles
Across the ages
Parchments
Scrolls
and ancient pages
Tell of Beauty
Dark and Sweet
from palace royal
to city street
Our daughters
Mothers of the earth
The queens of men
of noble birth
Protect them
Love them
Make them strong
while death yet tarries,
but not long
Instill in her
a sense of self
that no man
places on a shelf
And father,
when you’ve gone away
with her inheritance
she’ll say
I want a man just like my dad
who saw the worth in what he had
in me and mother with his love
that he now shares in skies above
Across the miles
Across the ages
Parchments
Scrolls
and ancient pages
Tell of Beauty
Dark and Sweet
from palace royal
to city street
Our children from a distance see
We only say that we are free
If we were pharaohs, queens and kings
what good was it to be those things
if we are not united here
and walk in self-hate, terror, fear,
when those that came before us fought
and those who learned were those who taught
and passed on knowledge, trade and thought
that cost the flesh the whip had wrought?
I think if we are truly free
We can’t keep blaming slavery
For our condition in this land
It’s time to take another stand
For Martin’s gone, and Malcolm too
It’s up to us now what to do
Together it takes you and me
To change the things our children see
Black Magi
your strength is wasted,
killing over slabs of
cracked, crumbling concrete
that will outlast
the return
of your bones
to dust
Black Magi
your lives are wasted
when the blood
of your
slain brother
soaks your soul,
and the wails
of his mother
are your lullaby
as you look at the same
Moonlight
through the bars of your cell,
and she does the same
through her gone baby’s eyes.
Black Magi
your knowledge is wasted
in kilos of grams,
hidden in luxury cars,
poisoning our future,
your neighborhood,
chipping at foundations
you desperately need.
But you got yours, right?
Black Magi
your wealth is wasted
on basketball shoes that are
Free
to the person they’re named after,
made by slaves in other foreign lands
(you know you’re not home, right?)
Black Magi
Gather your belongings
Now
Call your loved ones to your side
Today
Black Magi
the stars bid you
travel far,
and one of them falls
when one of you
turns back to die
Black Magi
Your son has questions
only you
can answer
Black Magi
Your daughter
has smiles
only you
can share
Black Magi
Your woman
cries tears
only you
can dry
Black Magi
The years of
your harvest
are spent in rehab,
then just spent,
And poisoned seeds
again take root
through the husk
of what used to be
Fertile and Wise and Strong,
the shell of what used to be
You
Black Magi
Stop
Think
Repent
But mostly,
Stop.
Grandfather,
they made you
bow your head
and not
look at them
because, they said,
you were unworthy
they made you
bend your back
to place burdens on it
no man should have to carry
and told you
to carry it
they made you
quiet the warrior
within you
and told you
to swallow
your pride
and bite
your tongue
And be a
‘good nigger’
And you did
because
you
were standing up
for
me
See the sun set on our longing
to invade a distant shore.
See the dimming of desire
to go sailing off to war.
Harbored safely and securely,
anchors lowered close to town,
we will speak no more of killing,
and with families settle down.
Though the noble masts jut proudly
in the darkened twilight sky,
Hear the cannon’s silence softly
Sing a sailor’s lullaby
See the sails tied to the rigging?
They’ll no longer catch the breeze.
And there’s no more pipe and jigging
On the rolling, dancing seas
And the whales will give birth again
to calves beneath the moon,
fearing nothing from the surface
be it net or sharp harpoon.
And the lighthouse keepers
get to leave their cold and noisy
towers,
for there’ll be no more ships coming
in the darkest morning hours.
And violent storms that claimed
the lives of those who’ve gone before
will have no plunder for their crimes
that leave this happy shore.
So weep no more, my lovely bride
The tide is standing still.
And I’ll face the sunset with you
Til it sinks beneath the hill.
Beyond Panic 