Love Poems by Marvin X
Marvin X: America's Plato,Rumi, Hafiz, Saadi
Ishmael Reed calls him "Plato teaching on the streets of Oakland." Bob Holman says, "He is the USA's Rumi!--the wisdom of Saadi, the ecstasy of Hafiz." Rudolph Lewis says, "A master teacher in many fields of thought. One of America's great story tellers. I'd put him ahead of Mark Twain!" James G. Spady writes, "When you listen to Tupac Shakur, E-40, Too Short, Master P or any other rappers out of the Bay Area of Cali, think of Marvin X. He laid the foundation and gave us the language to express black male urban experiences in a lyrical way."
The Rapture or I will go into the city
(from the play In the Name of Love, Laney College Theatre, 1981, written, produced and directed by Marvin X, with the assistance of Ayodele Nzinga.
I will go into the city
I will find work
I will find work
I will remember you country woman
I will not forget you
your laugh arguments
to learn
it is your way
let it be
how can I forget your lips
enchanting smile
I will not forget
we walked in the rain
it was free and we were free
we agreed
best of life is free
I will go into the city
I will find work
but you will be with me country woman
when those city women come to devour me
with sweet perfume
you will be there
you spirit will protect me
I will never forget
how we sipped $1.00 Margaritas
in the Mexican Cafe in Chinatown
our ride to the lake
picnic on the hill
ranger spotted us in his binoculars
we did not care
we were filled
with the Holy Spirit of Love
how can I forget
hours in bed
children of the love spirit
one moment
man and woman one
discovered missing self
eternal self
self of love
self of joy
self of happiness realized
I will go into the city
I will find work
I will not forget you country woman
I will return to claim you
in the name of Love
I will claim you
because you woman
I will claim you
you are feeling spirit intelligence
I will claim you
you have given yourself to me
so totally
I will claim you
in the name of Allah
I will claim you
for the Glory of Allah
I will claim you.
--Marvin X
from Selected Poems by Marvin X, 1979.
For the Women by Marvin X
Women Writers Panel at Black Arts Movement 50th Anniversary Celebration, Laney College, Oakland, Feb. 7, 2015. L to R: Elaine Brown, Halifu Osumare, Judy Juanita, Portia Anderson, Kujichagulia, Aries Jordan. Standing: Marvin X, BAM producerphoto South Park Kenny Johnson For the Women
For the women who bear children
and nurture them with truth
for the women who cook and clean
behind thankless men for the women who love so hard so true so pure
for the women with faith in God and men
for the women alone with beer and rum
for the women searching for a man at the club, college, church, party
for the women independent of men
for the women searching their souls
for the women who do drugs and freak
for the women who love only women
for the women who play and run and never show
for the women who rise in revolt in hand with men
who say never, never, never again
for the women who suffer abuse and cry for justice
for the women happy and free of maternal madness
for the women who study and write for the women who sell their love to starving men
for the women who love to make love and be loved by men
for the women of Africa who work so hard
for the women of America who suffer the master
for the women who turn to God in prayer and patience for the women who are mothers of children and mothers of men
for the women who suffer inflation, recession, abortion, rejection
for the women who understand the rituals of men and women
for the women who share
for the women who are greedy
for the women with power for the women with nothing
for the women locked down
for the women down town
for the women who break horses
for the women in the fields
for the women who rob banks
for the women who kill
for the women of history
for the women of now
I salute you
A Man.
--Marvin X
I Release You
You said release you
I chant I release you
three times
then you called
emergency
save your nephew
boyz in the hood want his head
gave him refuge in the mountains
manhood training
labor of love for you and him
he is you and you are him
my life is saving youth
what is revolution except saving
the next generation
from getting caught riding dirty
brothers marked for extinction
no use for them
except
caged
enslaved
ignorant
no thinkers wanted
freedom fighters
conscious poets and rappers
I did my job
can I get a little love
hug a kiss
no matter you have someone new
We feed you for Allah’s pleasure only
we desire neither reward nor thanks, Al Qur’an.
marvin x
4.3.07
The Funny Thing is I Already Knew I see you coming toward me
wind surrounds you
swirling swirling
a dance of dervishes in your stride
wind blows you to me
arms open wide
enfold greatness of your spirit
I am here at your pleasure
do with me as you wish
no abuse please.
I have no fear of this
I know you already know this.
Ah, the air is so fresh
we must go to the ocean
walk the shore
barefoot in the sand as the tide comes in
holding hands in the wind
the dervish dance and swirl.
--Marvin X
4/9/11
Wish I Could Fly Like a Hawk Wish I could fly like a hawk
just soar above earth
silent
gliding smooth
no noise
silent
observing all
madness below
rats scurrying
snakes in the grass
wish I could fly like a hawk
sometimes in motion still
wings frozen in flight
yet moving
wish I could be hawk
above the madness of it all
the meaningless chatter
cell phone psychosis
talking loud saying nothing
why are you breathing
jogging
without meaning purpose
no mission beyond nothingness
absorbing air from the meaningful
who subscribe to justice
let me fly above the living dead
let me soar
let me dream
imagine
another time and place
another space
this cannot be the end game
the hail marry
let me soar above it all
wings spread wide
let me glide
ah, the air is fresh up here
did I make it to heaven
did I escape hell
come with me
do not be afraid
the night is young
let us fly into the moon
see the crescent
so beautiful
let us fly into the friendly sky
wings spread wide
we are strong and mighty
the hawk.
--Marvin X
10/10/10
Oh, Mighty Kora I Cannot Hide from Kora
Oh, Mighty Kora
you tear the heart apart
soul from mind
ten thousand years
seeps into a soul lost in time
Oh, Kora
time lost regained
sounds set centuries ago
no improvisation no jazz
myth/ritual set for infinity
voices heard
message to the king
from the king
griot sings
king listens obeys sound of
kora submit or die
heart music cannot lie
sound of nights on the River Senegal
thousand warriors dance
holy stomp of a thousand women
breasts shaking in the sun
take me home take me home Kora
I am not bound for this wilderness
dungeon of darkness
how was I taken from my holy land
cast into hell with devils of the worse kind
naked devoid of my holy tongue
my holy mind soul
I speak the language of bastards
men of ill repute
pirates, kidnappers rapists
these are not men the shell of human kind
plunder for illusions
no joy in their ritual
no happiness no peace
I am weary in a strange land
O Kora, take me back to the Senegal and Niger
Let me hear you in the day in the night
of ancient times
rhythms of ancestors
let me be at peace
this is not my world
no matter how I try
I am naked in the wind
take me home, take me home kora
let the whirlwind take me
to the womb of my Mother
let me dwell in my Father's House.
--Marvin X
6/17/10
A Poem for Unresolved Grief When thy lover has gone to eternity
When touch is no more no feel in the night in the dayno smile walk
sweetness of body
kissing of lips breasts thighs
When thy lover has gone
A day we never imaginelove blinds the day came like a cloud of thunder raindown upon headdrowning us in sorrow the worse kindWe cannot walk listen each dayher voice message til we are taken awaywant to hear for the last timevoice of loveFor all the joy sharedblending two into onethinking two into oneWhen thy lover has goneWe are worse than deadyet alive to suffer pain no one can knowWho has never lovedtrue love we say we want but never getwe have lived what few ever knowtouch feel constant smileWhen thy lover has goneearth opens for the mate as wellno tears enoughNo silent moments to get over matters confined in the prison of lifewish to leave for other worldsto see if we can meet againone so kind so truelife keeps us here bound like slave to masterwe yearn for paradiselife is love and love has gonedesire is great pain a mountainWe visit familiar places but are lostcannot find the way homeWe call a friend to pick us uptake us homethere we sit in stuporthinking of days joy ruled our worldjoy never to return.Lord help us through day nightIt hurts to breathe thinka picture of our loverWe try night consumes us and we sleeptomorrow will be a better day.IITo heal the missing part of youTo feel again the love of yesterdayTo realize what is gone cannot returnFlesh is frailSpirit livesIn the day nightchallenge the taskknow we are spiritOf the Great SpiritWe flow with the flowNot the flesh,body vesselNever put faith in fleshEnjoy the momentseconds of the dayRomantic hours of nightphysical shall passThen what shall we doconfoundedPerplexeddepressedStuck against the walla frog on a lily padFlow in the flow of the Great RiverSail down the Nile Niger CongoDo not drownreality is transitoryExcept the metaphysical macro cosmic truth inside of youLove continues into the ancestor treeBeyond pain sorrow lostTears in the nightLove can be found againIf we try if we standAs Rumi taughtreeds in the reed bed stand aloneYet all togetherThe reed flute is a song of mourningA yearning to returnThrough the door of no returnflute plays the song of joyA communal chant in the sunSingworld will bless youPraise you singyour song of sorrow is gonehealing completeLive again and loveReach touch somebodyBreathe out the painExhale the miseryLove is in the air It blows your wayListen to the windListen to the sound of your flute.--M12/22/07
We're In Love, But You Don't Know Me You don't know me
you had a chance to know me
before we made love
you had a chance to know my mind
understand my fears
learn about issues
help me heal some things
but you wanted to make love
so you don't know me
we made love
but you don't know me
don't have a clue
think I'm a good d
or some good tight p
but you don't know me
and never will now
because you wanted to make love
you wanted to get a nut
we didn't even talk much
a little bit leading up to sex
I went along
I was horny too
but you don't know me
and I don't know you
now we never will
we blew it forever
because we made love
too fast too quick too soon
now you think you own me
I can't breathe
can't talk on the phone to friends
because we made love
because I gave you some d
you gave me some p
now I'm no longer human
I'm your love slave you my slave
we're in love
but you don't know me
we gonna get married
but you don't know me
we're gonna have children
but you don't know me
you're gonna beat my ass
but you don't know me
you're going to jail
but you don't know me
we're getting a divorce
but you don't know me
now we're friends
"Just Friends" Charlie Parker tune
But you don't know me
and never will.