09/11/2024
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The voice of generations
Was mute until high school
The trauma of a great migration
Slipped his soul into sadness
His speech into stutters
His mind into observation
It was poetry
that compelled him
To write
A teacher who
compelled him
To recite
And thus was born
Our Othello
Our Macbeth
Our Hamlet
And all the Kings
Lear
Mufasa
Jaffe Joffer
We fell in love with
Roop
We wept with
Kumalo
We gave him
Emmys
Grammys
Oscars
Tonys
He gave us pride
Dignity
Regality
And for every bigot
Who imagines a future
A space
Without blackness
He cemented it
In the universe’s
Lexicon
He gave us
Vader
His voice
Our father
A poem opened his mouth
And for us
He opened his soul
May he rest in the Power
His words gave all of us
“When I read great literature, great drama, speeches, or sermons, I feel that the human mind has not achieved anything greater than the ability to share feelings and thoughts through language.”
-James Earl Jones
