Of Love, Life and Death in da Hood
And Job said it best
naked I came and naked I go
ase
there is only one lesson to learn in this life
Nature Boy told us
to love and be loved in return
all else illusion
money fame sex
momentary pleasures
ephemeral desires
diversions from the real
who can see through all the conundrums
across the precipice to the meta reality
only superman can stand tall
how many can persist from man to superman
J.A. Rogers asked and answered
superman committed suicide
another fell from a horse
who is the real superman?
who has endured death a thousand times
crucified resurrected ascended
who is the black stone the builders rejected
who passed through the door of no return
yet returned to the motherland
no matter centuries later
a son came home
daughter too
ten thousand met them at the airport
twenty thousand at the compound of the high priest
prophesy fulfilled
Oh brother and sister
help us through the weary night
help us beyond poverty disease ignorance
help us transcend tribalism sectarianism dogmatism greedism corruptionism
state terror religious madness beyond all the prophets
Jesus Muhammad Buddha, even Marx and Lenin
help us walk from the dungeon to the upper room of our father's house
Come my daughter, walk with your king to his father's house
he has not defied righteousness
he has not defiled the gods
he has not disgraced the ancestors
he has not lied when the feather went on the scale of Ma-at
he has been a warrior for truth
he told no lies
so walk with your king
loving him unconditionally until the end of all things
that matter
no devotion to the trivial mundane provincial
fly with him into the midnight hour
rejoice
elders shall become ancestors
there is no escape
death is life and life is death
enjoy the holy days
and all days are holy
if we walk with the righteous
shun the scandalous
the rats snakes vermin
the terrible night is over
the dawn is upon us
let us dance sing shout wail.
--Marvin X
12/25/13
HAVE YOU HEARD A WOMAN MOAN
Have you heard
a woman moan
late into the night
cause her man is gone?
Have you heard
a woman wail
just before dawn
cause her man is gone
Have you heard her cry
Oh, Jesus Jesus Jesus
before noon time
cause her man is gone
"He wears hard gray pants
stripes are really yellow
He wears hard gray pants
stripes are really yellow
but when he starts to love me
he's so fine and mellow."
Have you heard a woman cry
cause her man is gone.
She wanted to slap him
one more time
but her man is gone
wanted to tell him
one more time
what's on her mind
but her man is gone
wanted to dig up his bones
to kiss him one more time
but her man is gone.
--Marvin X
1/27/14
Newark, NJ
THE WEATHERMAN
The ice storm put him in the hospital she said
It stopped for his funeral
sun came out
snow drifts swirled on cremation day
He controls the weather she said
--Marvin X (Baraka)
THE COLDEST WINTER EVER
The coldest winter ever
arctic freeze come south
atlanta 9 degrees january
Newark drifts flow to ground
like silent snow
tears fall
all for AB
old poet left us this winter
we are cold
naked in snow
freezing
hearts still
shock of it all
thought he would live forever
what foolish things confound minds
childish improprieties
no one has mastered death
come back to tell us all
tell us all
each time is something new
to understand to wonder why
how long shall we grieve this time
there is no closure ever
time is the master of life and death
where is my friend
are snow flakes his ashes drifting down
from some mystical heaven
letting us know he is still here
will be here forever
winter spring summer fall
snow flakes are all the words he left us
they shall not disappear
words beyond time
beyond seasons
beyond love and hate
they exist for the just and unjust.
unavoidable truths we shall discuss debate
ponder marvel at the genius of this mind
who walked among us and departed
in the coldest winter ever.
--Marvin X
1/25/14
Newark, NJ
Whatchasay when ya can't say nothin'
How ya feel when ya brother go through door of no return
when yo uncle go who gave ya manhood trainin' wit da Dutchman
mythology of A Black Mass
who climbed up da hill in Sisyphus Syndrome
up and down
who wrote the story of tribe of Shabazz
who lived the terror in the Newark Rebellion
wife and children in the closet
National Guard in da house
wife terrified
you bastards
beat my husband bloody
I shall not be moved!
Sonia said resist resist resist!
And we shall
take my husband from me
we shall not be moved
kill my lesbian daughter and lover
I shall not be moved
Shani told her mama Marvin X the only man I like
Never seen a man cook breakfast told me
Told AB and Amina I want to marry Shani
Amiri said Marvin, you get drunk and say the damnest things
Amina said Take her! Take her!
we shall not be moved
Ahi shot in the head 357 Magnum
He lived to tell about it
Tell me about the power of prayer
we shall not be moved
we partied hard
808 S. Tenth Street
Marvin, go to the store
get me some Jack Daniels and Newports!
Sonia, I don't need to hold hands
forget that shit
Marvin, go to the store
get me some Jack Daniels and Newports!
Yeah, get Daemon something too
get yo friend something
he's up in his room writing
go on up there
Get him some Miller Lite
Yeah, Daemon up there
writing while the house is on fire
Dat's him
you know him as well as I do
what was that girl he was messing wit
at the Black House 1967
what was her name
Marvin, you was there, what was her name?
That damn Daemon
go to the store Marvin
Get my boyfriend Jack
I need Jack right now!
I shall not be moved
My brother gone
uncle is gone
daddy gone
buddy gone
best friend gone
departed the Miller Lite world of make believe
illusion
of the worst kind
dreams and dreamers
MLK, Jr knocked on our door
what do you do when MLK, Jr. knocks
let him in or what?
Can you imagine?
What drama
what tragi-comedy
what love
what lessons of love
sweetness of love
bitterness of love
no matter what
I'm a Mafia woman, Marvin
we don't leave our men
My daddy was in the Mafia Marvin
My grandfather
we don't leave our men
no matter what
Howard Street woman
we know Nathan Heard
Ain't no shame in my game
I was always black
didn't need Black Arts
when dat nigguh came home to Newark
I was black
doing a black thang
me and my brother
when I met Amiri
I was black
better ax somebody
Didn't need no Black Arts to make me Black!
Howard Street made me Black!
His mama didn't like me cause I was black
my kids was black
yeah, my little picka ninny kids
black
Help me, Marvin
hold my hand
come make me laugh
like we used to
laugh all night Marvin
you made us laugh all night Marvin
no matter the pain
you made us laugh all night
Jack Daniels laugh
Miller Lite laugh
Hennessy/Bailey's laugh
let the elephant out laugh
Make us laugh Marvin
the African say he who laughs last
laughs the longest
C'mon Marvin
hold my hand
squeeze my hand
I want to laugh.
To keep from cryin.
--Marvin X