I have been moved by the temperature of this country to speak in a voice that God has given me.  This voice is often creative and sympathetic to those who struggle in this so called country of freedom.

This is a Poetry Power Special!

 

I want to share a series of poems that came out of a time of reflection.  These poems came from some of the original posts on this blog in 2016.  The country was under deep distress in anticipation of election results.  I want to share them with you in honor of Black History Month.

 

The  first one was written by me from an article that I read by Harry Belafonte.  I simply took his eloquent words from the New York Times article and placed it into poem form. Mr. Belafonte was concerned with Donald Trump's implausible disrespect for democracy, justice, and people.  The following are the words of Mr. Harry Belafonte:

 

What old men know is that everything can change. . .

What old men know, too, is that all that is gained can be lost. . .

 

With his simple, mean, boy’s heart, Mr. Trump wants us to follow him blind into a restoration that is not possible and could not be endured if it were.

 

What old men know is that things blown up . . .  cannot so easily be put right.

 

What Langston Hughes so yearned for when he asked that America be America again was the realization of an age-old people’s struggle, not the vaporous fantasies of a petty tyrant.

 

Mr. Trump asks us what we have to lose, and we must answer, only the dream, only everything.

 

-Harry Belafonte (Excerpts from the New York Times Nov. 7th, 2016) http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/07/opinion/campaign-stops/harry-belafonte-what-do-we-have-to-lose-everything.html

 

 

"My friends, we are now in the moment of time where the struggle has to be rebirthed because of the lackadaisical approach that we as an American people have taken in our journey of equality advancement.  We have raised a generation that does not know nor understand the struggle that African Americans have endured in this country.  I see it creeping back into existence; the hate, the fear, and the uncertainty of a peaceful future.  We all just want to be happy and fulfilled in life.  Unfortunately, that means so many different things to so many different people."

 

(from original post in 2016)

 

When the 2016 Election was happening, many people in my circle were concerned with the growing possibility that Trump would win the election.  I would say that the traps of my social construct led me to believe that this country would head down a deep hole of miscommunication, confusion, hopelessness, and despair.  Time has told that my view was correct.  HOWEVER,  I believe that the Lord has a different idea of what is supposed to happen next in this country.  We are not going to stay in confusion.  I think that it is time for a new America.

 

Let America, Be America Again

 

Let America be America again.

Let it be the dream it used to be.

Let it be the pioneer on the plain

Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—

Let it be that great strong land of love

Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme

That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty

Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,

But opportunity is real, and life is free,

Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There’s never been equality for me,

Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?

And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,

I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.

I am the red man driven from the land,

I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—

And finding only the same old stupid plan

Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,

Tangled in that ancient endless chain

Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!

Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!

Of work the men! Of take the pay!

Of owning everything for one’s own greed!

Langston Hughes, 1902 - 1967

 

"Oh America, what will the outcome be when the numbers are in and we get the final count?  This is a very historical event this 8th day of November 2016.  I prayed a prayer that whatever happens for God to keep America safe and to cover the believers of the truth.  Remember whatever happens, God has it under control.  Keep your faith in God."

 

(From original post in Nov. 2016)

 

We have entered into a time where the minds of our friends have been opened.  God is making a way for America to be a different America.  The events of 2020 did not happen by accident,  nor was the election of Mr. Donald Trump an accident in 2016.  I believe it was a wake up call for Americans to realize just how separated we are in the issues of race, ethics, justice, and fairness.  This next poem I wrote while being influenced by Mr. Langston Hughes and his advocacy for equal rights.  I also wrote it so that people who cannot relate to the oppression of systemic racism can begin to sympathize with how it feels to be an African American in this country. I wrote it in 2016, but added a verse around 2019.  Here it is in it's extended version.

 

 

I Live America

I’m cold here

Not loved by the loving stripes and tattered souls that claim the claim of victory old

I crave the love that freedom molds but lay awake from the lies it’s told

I in fear, I run, I hide, fighting with the fear inside

I rise, I fall, pushed down to get dead, it is so hard to lift my head

Crying voices, expectancy choices, yell out, stay down, stay down

Then crack, crack  boom, and the scream it shakes, visions terrorize me, my soul it breaks

No one can see how my body aches, the scars are hidden inside of me

I'm down, I'm down, how far should I go?  I’m already broken, I’m already sold

I’m so cold here, for my former shelter, no replica, I lost my home long ago, now I live America

 

I’m cold here

I try to live the best I can, making a living to live again

I’m the self that tells self you can, keep going, keep striving you’ll make it my friend

But something has happened and something has changed

The peace that I felt has become rearranged

I saw him, I let him, I left him alone, not sharing the fight that he goes through alone

I cry for my sons with a deep pitiful moan, a weeping concern, a crunching soul groan

No one can see how blindly I roam, searching, not finding the comforts of home

I’m trapped in a hope that was lost in delusion, a toil of youth, a seed of confusion

I used to live in a world full of hope, humming freedom of fa la la

but now I cry out, oh how do I live, oh how do I live America

 

I’m so cold here

My heart filled with unsettled doubt of why I am here and what’s it about

My wilderness is common and comfortable and calm

I sit in complacency and a lackadaisical fortitude,

I flow with the sea, no cares and no altitude

No healing for myself, and nowhere to go

No shelter, no home and always so cold

This lands dark hold, hides my inheritance my soul does crave

But to this country of Liberty, I’m shackled to fear, and oh yes I do behave

History lost, and stolen and buried, I don’t know who I am, I don’t know who I was

And this is the dream you want me to live, when I live America’s

 

I can’t breath

I’m cold

I’m dying

 

But I still Live America

(Tamorra Goldsboro)

 

The last four lines was added in 2020 in honor of the death of George Floyd. 

 

We have come a long way but we still have more work to do.  In honor of Black History Month I end this Poetry Power special with one of my favorite poems from Langston Hughes. . .

 

I, Too, Sing America

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes,

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong.

Tomorrow,

I’ll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody’ll dare

Say to me,

“Eat in the kitchen,”

Then.

Besides,

They’ll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed—

I, too, am America.

(Langston Hughes)

 

 

This blog is dedicated to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the coming of his Kingdom.  Therefore all content is God centered and adheres to the word of God.  My Goal is to motivate you to find your purpose.

 

Stay tuned for the month of February, where I will be putting together a collection of essays for Black History Month . . .