The Poetry Marathon

God keeps me when I feel I cannot be kept

He loves me when I  feel unlovable

God curbs my appetite when I am ravenous

She lifts me  when I falter

God  iz a cool breeze when the temperature iz scorching

He iz the answer to my unanswerable thoughts

God jumpstarts me when my battery is silenced

She  fills my tank when I am on empty

God restores my soul cuz He iz my all in all

“i shall never honor the texas flag; i pledge no allegiance to thee, texas, one state under  no god, one and divisible.”

The hatred U have for me makes no sense to me like it does to U

U don’t want me to know my history my herstory

bcz it is a telling of the evil deeds of U and yours

Yo mama, yo mama’s mama , yo mama’s mama mama

Yo daddy,  yo daddy’s daddys, yo daddy’s daddy daddy

U don’t want me 2know Yo daddy,  yo daddy’s daddys, yo daddy’s daddy daddy raped

My mama, my mama’s mama, my mama’s mama mama

U don’t want yo kids 2 know of your evil deeds

Yet Black history/herstory iz ameriKKKan history/herstory

So I will do all that I can to make sure my children’s children children will know the truth

And anyone else who will listen to learn

And then I will tell of our wonderful history/herstory and all  of the power that we  possess.

We will not be silenced by your nonsensical hatred

aint

bea

crazy

doodling

everything

funning

going

home

instigating

jumping

kicking

laughing

making

nookie

opening

pickling

quitting

running

sexing

tasting

unique

valentines

while

xercising

zoobies

I am Blackety Black Black

Pride in me is where I’m at

Channeling  Big Mama, Big Daddy, Unc and Auntie

Who left me a lovin’ legacy

Being Blackety Black Black

Means loving me inside and out

Cuz my melanated majic is what I am proud 2B about

Being Blackety Black Black

Feeds my soul

Makes me feel complete and a joy 2 behold

Being Blackety Black Black

Is what I will always be

Blacktastic Blacknificent Blacktabulous Me

Racism?

Sexism?

Classism?

Elitism?

Heterosexism?

Colorism?

Tokenism?

Ableism?

Ageism?

Elitism?

If so, why?

If not, Stay that way

luv iz yellow

a ray  of spring sunshine

luv iz red

a fiery covering igniting

luv iz blue

a cold breeze on an august day

luv iz purple

a royal crown adorning a regal space

luv iz black

a priceless gem

60 years ago, they Marched on Washington

From the Carolinas, Washington state, the West Coast, Texas, the Midwest and

of course the Deep South

It was over 250,000 strong over all generations

Who can forget the vision of power across the Lincoln Memorial?

Who can forget the speeches of the voices of power?

Who can forget the vision of the powerful Black men covering the stage?

Who can forget one of the most powerful orations ever delivered?

And who can forget the women….?

Wait, there was a scarcity of women  visible that day

Yet it was a quiet known fact that the women were the forces

behind this momentous day

Unfortunately misogyny, sexism, chauvinism  was a part of our brothers reach

Even as they fought against racism

So on the 60^th anniversary of this fateful event

The Women gathered to read  this powerful speech and share their modern day commentary

Via Zoom

This too was but  another powerful oration by a multigenerational cadre of sisters

It was empowering and fulfilling

Although not sufficiently present  60 years ago

The women will continue to gather

We played phone tag over and again

And when we finally connected U couldn’t talk cuz the nurses were in the room

Nurses?

It seems that U had been tryn to let me know that U were in tthe hospital for pneumonia

And there  U tested positive while being vaxed up

U were pretty sick for a few days

Even  your asthma kicked in

Damnit U COVID, U back

I saw on our group text that she tested positive

I didn’t reply like the rest of our tight knit group

So I called  2C what was really going on

Her grandson, her daughter all had  it

Inspite of being vaxed up

And they weren’t mild

Damnit U COVID, U back

U were on my mind so I just called to say hi

U were in your car driving back home from the store

Getting soup for your son cuz he tested positive

Altho’ he was  vaxed up

He wasn’t really sick, just under the weather a lil bit

Thank God U were negative

Damnit COVID, U back

Calls, texts, kept coming in, even seeing it on FB

Ev’rybody vaxed up

Being precautious

Y’all still got COVID

We all waitn on that new booster next month

And startn back to wearn our masks

So even tho’ that Damn COVID iz back

We fighting back to get back

Us

I thought this Marathon was next week

So I wasn’t prepared for 2day

I was out of town taking care of

my sister recuperating from surgery

Can I really do this?

Or is it 2 late?

I came back to Houston Saturday

cuz one of my Monologues

was being produced this weekend

I didn’t get home from the theatre

Until  11:30

(the performance was great by the way)

Tired, sleepy

Can I really do this?

Or is it 2 late?

Then the internet and hotspot

weren’t working

And I couldn’t find my tablet

I was at my wits end

About to cry

Can I really do this?

Or is it 2 late?

The light bulb went off in my head

And at 1a  I called my SisterFriend 2 see if I could type on her couch

She said yes

And here I am

Can I really do this?

Or is it 2 late?

Imma try to do it until 8a 2C what I come up with

And then I’ll answer the questions

So here I go

See ya at 8