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Manifesto
for My Soul
for sonia sanchez, angela davis, assata shakur, and all of the
daughters
of
the revolution who gave me back my own voice and song
i once sat atop
a formidable rock
near the sea of galilee
it was there
that jesus stood beside me
preaching
in a foreign tongue
because i forgot to re-member
my own jungle songs
how i journeyed across the
atlantic
and sometimes wept in exile
while my heart sang the blues
sent discarded love-notes
prayers about freedom
eternal peace
a home that never hugged me
and men
no longer touching me
to the woman in the moon
and i was improvisin man
sashayin my sweet brown sugar
hips
as me and coltrane
took a stroll up-town
listenin
to the sweet jazz-muse
croonin in my ear
searchin
for more sound
more words
more meaning
more life . . .
but now i no longer re-act
the dance and vigor of my youth
no longer can be heard
humming
in the
night
i have become camouflaged
against the backdrop
of my own slow irrevocable death
drowned in a sea of normalcy
and
all things sane
i have collected
seeds of self-hatred
ambivalence
and doubt
from Unknown sources
who stole my legacy
and pushed me further
into me
rap
black studies
movements
and Higher states of consciousness
and the teachers
they all came
because i was ready
for a brand-new truth
me being yesterday's militant
youth
tomorrow's immaculate future
and today's present lies
i remember when i ran from love
cuz i was afraid i was gonna die
take a detour off course
with the wrong woman or guy
and for-get this mission
this call
to live and speak truth
to the people
i remember mama's words
being so harsh and lethal
sayin i can't
wear shirts about
being black and proud
and how white people
like me
couldn't go with her
to the family reunion
and oh how all of those
Words
got tangled
on my tongue
sent the fierce nerve-beast
to wrestle in my gut
me RSVP'ing
on death's invitation
and bleeding
on the inside part
because someone pierced my heart
and beckoned me
to finally
explode.
Copyright 2002. Jamie Walker. All Rights Reserved.
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