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HottLykeFiyah
Charter member
17582 posts
Wed May-08-02 12:14 PM

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"black & blue/grass"


  

          

it's been awhile, i know...
this is more or less one big rant (it's really long) & it hasn't been revised yet.
-----------------------------------------------------------

"indeed, some of the bluegrass is black." --Frank X. Walker



I.

i've heard it said
that ky cain't raise no poets
but we prove them wrong
with each breath we take
for the first time

we never had to learn to walk.
like cats
we landed on our feet
fresh from the womb
'cause every second spent crawling
is one second closer
to second place
& though we've been given
a second class status
we still set our sights
past the stratusphere
we've proven that we can by-pass
the bleakest atmosphere
we're speaking
we're laughing
we do exist
it's not our fault
that you can't hear us
living


my old ky home
is a minstrel stage
that has the world thinkin
we ain't worth minimum wage
'cause i mean,
it's just ky--
don't they still have slaves?

let the church say
'hell naw.'

we've murdered our pickaninnies.
we done put massa in de col' col' groun'*
before he even knew he was dead
now we fight to bear aunt jemima's breasts
& give uncle ben his balls back
while tryin' to shake our own skins loose
of that old ky stigma
we still get pissed
at good ol' boys whistlin' dixie
& rebel flags become a disturbing comfort
'cause when you see them
waving in the dawn's early light
then you know
that those so proudly hailing
are against you

maybe are cries are too legit
'cause all we get in return
from our refined northern counterparts is--

"it's ky-
what else would you expect?"

now
we understand
that our drawls may color us
slow as molasses
but our intelligence runs
thick as honey
we are well aware of the space in which we breathe
because we created it
without apology
to expect is one thing
to accept
& respect
is quite another
we can move mountains
but this is one ocean
we refuse to swallow

mason-dixon
boundaries awareness,
not tolerance.

II.

i've never seen
blue grass before
but i can tell you where
ky's blk roses
grow wild--

we exist between
kerosene lamps & liquor stores
tucked away soft between
blk churches
lake cumberland
& welfare offices
picture us
shining blk springs of
isolated humanity
young doctors/flunkies/pilots/junkies
kickballing our way to adulthood
way too soon
picture us
flying
weaving our way
through onyx mountains
thrusted toward the periwinkle heaven
that hangs low over our
Bloody backyards & mall parking lots
we are more than tobacco
we are more than colonel sanders
we are more than daniel boone,
davey crockett
the hatfields
& the mccoys
we are the
muhammed alis
whitney youngs
frank x. walkers
& their mothers/sisters/aunts/backbones/best friends/
inspirations
we spit this land from our loins
like tobacco juice
into the United Spitoon of America
& we govern it
with a clenched iron fistfull of
daisies
& dance in streets paved in gold(enrod)
lined in crackpipes
broken beer bottles
& bullet casings
cow-tippin' is never a pass-time
cause we spend too much time
dodging police batons
& blue bandanas
we had to sacrifice footraces in crab grass
for broken glass
& trade childhood
for simple survival
take away the pigtails
buck teeth
slurred foreign speech
lilly white skin
sky blue eyes
massa's whip
blk submission
& you have us
modified images of
malcolm & martin
practicing shadows of
langston & lorraine
unborn revisions of
Zion & Mecca
& if you'd just listen to us
we'll show you how to create space
without apology

there's metaphor in them there mountains
& though we may not know it
some of us
are poets.


*reference to a minstrel song entitled 'Massa's in De Col' Col' Ground'


peace, folks
~*HottLykeFiyah*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(AIM & YahooIM name: KentuckianKween)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





.

but i'm a hater, tho

  

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black & blue/grass [View all] , HottLykeFiyah, Wed May-08-02 12:14 PM
 
Subject Author Message Date ID
________
May 08th 2002
1
your use of imagery is beautiful, trace...
May 08th 2002
2
RE: black & blue/grass
May 09th 2002
3
big brother's proud of you sis..
May 09th 2002
4
RE: black & blue/grass
May 09th 2002
5
The title caught me...
May 09th 2002
6
i have only read a couple of lines..
May 10th 2002
7
RE: black & blue/grass
May 12th 2002
8
lol
May 14th 2002
11
its very good!
May 12th 2002
9
Whoa....
May 12th 2002
10

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