Daily Selections for January 26, 2007: As Yet Untitled 1001

As Yet Untitled 1001

by H. L. Nichols

Are you too the arbiteur of

Fine lines that regal annals of

Truth and justice or

Are these penalties that constitute youth

To serve as reminders of just the American Way?

And the mistakes that one made yesterday

Or is this the persecution like Mumia truly?

How could I allow one who is so beautiful

To continue to do this to to me?

That which undergirds this last lesson

If I do ten more days in this pergatory

I shall never call this desolate space a blessing

When all I have to hold on to are memories

I engage like fervent California fire storms

Yet flow like Ahmed's oil passionate artistry

Of your beauty, your smile, your grace

If there is any mercy in your construct of justice

Take me back I pray

Take me back Dear Lord

To the visage of her at

The Enchantment

Cafe

Unh . . . unh . . . unh

As Yet Untitled 1001 by H. L. Nichols

© Copyright 2006. All rights reserved.
No portion of this work may be duplicated or copied
without the expressed written consent of the author.

Daily Selection for January 22, 2007: Painted Still

Painted Still

by Carenda Williams

Painted future
Lays still
Like a Picasso picture
Or water painting
Dripping
Running down the black pages
Of paper
I write
But they’re white
I see light
Spotted red
Reveal the future
Still like a paint job
Never drying
But dry to the touch
Thoughts of you
Behind the eye
Seen
Reversed in the future
Lays still
Not painted

Painted Still by Carenda Williams

© Copyright 2006. All rights reserved.
No portion of this work may be duplicated or copied
without the expressed written consent of the author.

Daily Selection for January 13, 2007: Story The Same Today

Story The Same Today

by Brother DeBuff

Water carries the screams
of the children’s of
the middle passage
them young spirits playing
tag with the star over dark sky
not long ago young one come this way
In the belly of wooden ship
Very cold dark rank
Chilled tiny body
they cried still be heard on the water
listen to what night say
It tells tales of forget children’s
How death claims many before time
tears drop mixed with distress moan
To with stand these troubles moment
In many tongues we call out to our Ancestor’s
our God’s
we suffer as many people we were
of different nations
They knew of us not
different in our talk and our dance
and song of our father’s
They did not know heart beats
That older and time
Our cried was foreign to any brother
In bondage
Whole nation in our child lost to cruelty
When we over come of psychological
and physical pain
Of these time fresh in mind of Ancestor’s
Journey of children in modern time
Has change little
With many new type of bondage
And scream’s are in air night and day
In the wind I heard the question when will
It end

Story The Same Today by Brother DeBuff

© Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
No portion of this work may be duplicated or copied
without the expressed written consent of the author.

Happy New Year

Wishing everyone a prosperous and happy New Year. The daily posts will return on January 8, 2007.

Daily Selection for December 15, 2006: I Fell In Love and I Can't Get Out

I Fell In Love and I Can't Get Out

by Lawrence Christopher

It wasn’t like a trip and fall
More like a slip at all
Heart wide open
Eyes closed shut.

Tried to catch myself
Couldn’t rely on anyone else
Attempted to stop
Twisted my heart

Slowly was my descent
For more than a year is how long it went
Didn’t see it
Wish I had

To the bottom of my heart I fell
A place to where I have not often dwell
My first love
And my last

That’s to say that I’ve been here before
Not so bad that I wouldn’t want more
Didn’t want to
Believe or not

Checked my heart for scrapes and bruises
Not to get up from this fall, decides who loses
Fell in love
Can’t get out

I Fell In Love and I Can't Get Out by Lawrence Christopher

© Copyright 2006. All rights reserved.
No portion of this work may be duplicated or copied
without the expressed written consent of the author.

Daily Selection for December 13, 2006: Work In Progress

Work In Progress

by Anjel

I’ve acquired the knowledge
Of someone twice my age
I speak with an urban intelligence
A sort of, inspired slang
You try to look away
but my words captivate
off the rip
I may not be as deep
as you like it
but you’ll damn sure feel it
because my rhetoric
is poignant
and so seductive
Word & Music
are so powerful
So how strong it must make me
to be given the gift of expressing both
Poetry
is just a manifestation of my thoughts
and I damn sure tell it like it is
Stories
filled with much drama
and plot twists
and the sex is as real as it gets
My Songs
are filled with every fiber of my being
you can’t get more emotional
they articulate everything
I’m growing to be
I’ve acquired the ability
to strike your soul
My words’ll make you lose control
So keep reading
‘cuz as you can see
I’m just getting started
And you’ve fallen in love
with just a few lines
I gotchu cold jonesin’
So with these skills
that I naturally possess
You’ve just witnessed
the makings
of a true artist
Do stay tuned
Things are far from done
And it ain’t over
This is just a work in progress

Work In Progress by Anjel

© Copyright 2006. All rights reserved.
No portion of this work may be duplicated or copied
without the expressed written consent of the author.

Daily Selection for December 11, 2006: My Love

My Love

by Cry Out

my love is the moonlit streets
where people meet
and talk of sweeter days
and the sunlights rays
shine at another intersection of time.

my love is the love of solomon for makeda
that produced the new ethiopian nation
and motivates generations
to aspire and inquire
of queens and dreams
of years spent in the arms of Africa.

my love is the freedom felt when my name was called
and i walked away from life three times over in a prison cell
and i touched a tree cause it was reality and my tears fell
and nourished the grass that lay underneath my feet.

my love is your eyes as they look at me in that special way...
my body language is sway,
as i ride the vibe vibrant and alive
strong enough to survive
the blues of seperation
or the elation of adoration
at your seeming infatuation of i.

my love is the milk that flows from the breasts of life,
struggle and strife,
german chocolate cake at mama's house
while the children run in and out...
till night falls and peace and quiet returns.

my love is the sun and the moon,
the stars that fill the milky way,
today and yesterday,
alpha and omega
oh Allah you made me,
black woman you shine in my eyes,
in life i found love and a thousand deaths
cannot make me forget...forever.

My Love by Cry Out

© Copyright 2006. All rights reserved.
No portion of this work may be duplicated or copied
without the expressed written consent of the author.

Daily Selection for November 30, 2006: Six and A Half Miles

Six and A Half Miles: A Katrina Poem

by John D. Evans

After surviving a mighty storm

With winds that blew homes away

Causing levees to bruise and to break

A massive flood was surely on her way

Through the windows and doors, she came

Swimming and kicking, yes our bodies ached

With three precious children and a lovely wife

To a nearby two-bedroom villa on higher ground

Twenty-one deep in that one place for one long day

Regardless of being told to go back, a boat came for us

He dropped us on the highway with: Help’s coming soon

For three long, hot hours, we waited for a ride and our relief



So we started walking



And walking



For six and a half miles



Walking



Without water



Without food



Without shade


We arrived



Met by a sea of hostility

We waited in line to get inside
And they wouldn’t even let us in


*************

~Inspired by a true story~

Six and A Half Miles by John D. Evans

© Copyright 2006. All rights reserved.
No portion of this work may be duplicated or copied
without the expressed written consent of the author.

Daily Selection for November 29, 2006: Beautiful

Beautiful

by Bam

I told her
You are so Beautiful
She said
What do you mean by
Beautiful
My mind said
Like those sunsets you see on greeting cards
Overlooking the ocean of some exotic city
Sensuous looking clouds explored by birds
And the silhouettes of people unknown
But my mouth said
Beautiful, you know
She said
No I don’t know
My mind said
Like that flower that is not a rose
It has the brightest colors seen
Trimmed with the perfect offsetting hue
Growing in the oddest place
Yet it’s exactly where it should be
Noticed
But my mouth said
Beautiful, you know
She said
No, I really don’t know
My mind said
Like the visions I have listening to good music
The midnight sky when stars are so numerous
The moon pushes its way through illuminating every eye
The breeze is neither too warm nor too cold
The entire world is at peace with itself
But my mouth said
God has shown His greatness
In the whole of you

*********
This is dedicated to all those dark complexioned sistas
who never believed in their beauty. And any sista who
needs to be told, this is one brotha who is proud and
honored to let you know you are beautiful, amazing
and blessed by The Best.

Beautiful by Bam

© Copyright 2006. All rights reserved.
No portion of this work may be duplicated or copied
without the expressed written consent of the author.