For My Students!!!

 

I am posting this as a special request from one of my students.  Thank you, Andrea, for asking me.

The following is a poem that I use in my poetry classes to introduce poetry as storytelling.  It is one of my favorite pieces to perform.  The place is real, the persons are real, and yes, this really did happen. 

If you enjoy the poem, please feel free to leave a response on the blog.  I would love to hear from you!

 

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Spirits’ Crossing   for You whoever you are…

 

he was poised on a street corner,

where Rev. Dr. Joseph P. Lowery Boulevard,

formerly known as Ashby Street, meets

Ralph David Abernathy Avenue

in that pseudo-black mecca called,

Hotlanta, ATL,

the dirtiest part of the Dirty South that

wears white, lace gloves

on Sundays.

he was there poised,

beneath a traffic light,

left turn lane,

in a fire red truck.

onyx eyes fixed in a sea of

creamy mahogany

with a crown of dreaded serpents about his head

and a silver hoop in one ear

twinkling beneath the sunshine

beckoning me.

he was poised

looking like a cross between

Wesley Snipes and Jesus,

what Jesus really looked like,

or maybe Osirus.

he was poised,

a mysterious pyramid invincible

amidst the madness of  urban decay,

where so many of his brothers

trudge the same streets,

suited and booted with

weighted crosses strapped to their backs,

razors in one hand, emaciated phallus in the other,

and bible verses clogging their third eyes.

he was poised, fertile and free,

looked into me and

reflected all my past lifetimes in a single glance.

I became the Virgin before Jesus,

or maybe Isis in flight while

he was hip hop and holy, wholly:

father, son and ghost,

the most magic in a moment

I had touched in a while,

perhaps forever.

he was full enough

to fill me in a moment

with just a look.

he sang a sonata without as much as a smile

while floating me on the rivers of his soul

to someplace I’ve been before,

but could not go that day.

‘cause

i was in the left hand turn lane

going the other way

where Rev. Dr. Joseph P. Lowery Boulevard,

formerly known as Ashby Street, meets

Ralph David Abernathy Avenue

in that pseudo-black mecca called

Hotlanta, ATL,

the dirtiest part of the Dirty South that

wears white, lace gloves

on Sundays.

it was Monday

with impatient cars behind me,

so all I could do was squeal with ecstasy

and pray he heard me

praise his divinity

that baptized my soul,

made me wholly holy,

and set me free

for a moment.

 

                                                                                                @ 2018, Tamara J. Madison

                                                                                              

 

Yes, this is that same corner, Abernathy & Lowery! Now it's your turn!  Please share with others and respond to the blog below!  Thank you!

           

 

 

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