I refuse to stop wanting more joy

for Smoke-Sifted-Heftlander.

So I show my co-workers some of my poems

and Harold says,

"I can get poetry until someone

starts talking that Black s**t.

Black this, Black that".

So I refer him not to the throating

half moons of Cullen

but to Rod Mckuen like an

angel selling colorful scarves

on the hottest beach in the world

where he writes in "Self Pity"

"And when the universe is

turned upon itself

this place will still be waiting here"

which even during the Cold War

is a 1960's, American perspective.

Not the Chicago Hawk

that dives on the South side

pecking at the skull of the small, pregnant girl

with the rag on her head

or the tapenade of dying men

when you walk underneath the

graduated dumpsters behind

your mothers senior building.

I had a poet friend who died

but wrote of the Theory of Thirds,

that solemn silence

where pain lives well (and yes I am afraid)

between all beautiful things.

"Langston Hughes is melting

into the posture of my heart"

he wrote smooth

like the undersides of catfish

but you tell her, the lovely child, like Trump tells

those who he wishes wouldn't ask him

anything about the sheer

delight of being memorable;

of saying something tomorrow

that someone will follow. It can

be like rap, or walking slowly

thru the maze of

materialism and brokenness

as if the days you are alive in

are also

unbearable times.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

Poetry my friend. Words, we bleed to paper and pen. I had the great luck to have known the African Poet and writers. Color don't create poetry. When you heard a Martin Luther King Jr. or Nelson Mandela speech. You don't question color. You love their words. I believe the world shall change. The weak nation will become the strong nations. The strong nations will become the weak nations. Great writers are never forgotten. Today I published on WordPress about Susana Chavez Castillo. She was murdered for her words. To me. They killed a great writer and a strong/brave Mexican woman. Write, my friend. People fear what they don't understand. Thank you for sharing your powerful words and thoughts.
Coyote

[h d e rushin]

thank you my friend....People just fear now whether they understand it or not..thats why they run to Facebook, because there fear is what follows you not what governs you to concern..thank you so much for those words my friend....dana

[Coyote Poetry]

You are welcome dear Dana.

[W.k.kortas]

Ah, the "hawk"--I remember someone long ago, maybe it was Lou Rawls, sang about how it was like a huge, cold razor blade sweeping through the streets of the South Side. This is much more, however, than mere memory or some frowzy nostalgia--grim and gritty in spots, yes, but also curiously uplifting, resonant of the majesty of simply carrying on with the whole damn thing.

[h d e rushin]

i remember that song..."Dead End Street" by Lou....One of his big, big hit's..And his voice didn't get him more run on the so called 'soul' stations back in the day..Then I woke up one day and he was just gone......brain tumor they said....Thank you my friend for finding this one....dana

[Einstein Noodle]

such a strong voice ..my own lack of background sings in this one ;} i recognize Rod Mckuen, but had to look him up to remind me who he is ..and Cullen i have not heard of ..so thank you for forcing me to expand a little .. i think this is just stunning right off the bat:
""I can get poetry until someone
starts talking that Black s**t.
Black this, Black that".
i have not had nor will i ever have the "Black Experience" and sadly understand that .. but your poem opens a door to that understanding be it ever so small for one like me ..these lines:
"which even during the Cold War
is a 1960's, American perspective.
Not the Chicago Hawk
that dives on the South side
pecking at the skull of the small, pregnant girl
with the rag on her head"
for me are the nugget and all around it is wrapped in stringent paper that abrades those sensibilities i think i do not have .. i am so glad i stopped to read ..again..your very strong voice
E.

[h d e rushin]

thanks Einstein.....I think the Black experience is the American experience just of a different cultivation. I am working with shapes as you can tell....some from the past...some from the distant past...But what i'm trying to do is to form my own voice, like Jacob or Ken has....Where when you read a single line you know it's them....(me). It's hard since I did not come from academia, just the bramble of life's experiences and the youngberries that fall in spite of them...Thank you for those wonderful words my friend....dana

[Einstein Noodle]

i am taking my first "poetry" class on line from the University of Iowa and the first week we talked about finding ones voice .. i have only read a few of your poems (and will read more) but whether you know it or not i think your voice is pretty strong .. the class is free unless you want credit for it .. they have others to choose from and you can jump in late if you want ... let me know and i will send you the link :)

[jacob erin-cilberto]

then and now, capsulized so well here...i love langston...and teach a couple of his poems to my students..."cross" and "dream deferred"

the students really like exploring those...he was definitely smooth, and his writings have stood the test of time...and Self-Pity has no color...
we all bleed the same blue ink, as poets...we all recognize hate and love evenly--
your writing could almost make me like "rap" even though it is a genre i am not so fond of...i like old Rock, Motown---etc, etc,...
your writing is unique...your voice...and i identify so much with what you write in my own erin-cilberto kind of way.
j.

[h d e rushin]

my revolutionary friend Jacob: Poetry, I believe, is egalitarian. the homogony of such events sing to us all at one time or another......Hence everyone can with a pen, or a tablet, or a computer keyboard, do it and no one can question their sincerity..In fact, even bad or rotten poems are at least sincere. I think that teaching poetry is a revolutionary act, since poems are the function of revolt. And to some extent, it is the mythological taking up of arms in defense of some urgency..thank you my friend for your continued support....dana