Thursday, August 26, 2010

Daughter of the Ghetto

Brooklyn is like
layers of thick molasses
sticking to you
never thin
church bells ringing from the wind
where spirits spin

two story walk up
Mustafa hat shop and Islamic wear
Masjid At Taqwa
cross street

The Adhan
time, pray
beside papa
mama abaft

rug rolled out
hands rise
head down
head up
bow, bend knees

recite, recite
chant, chant
dance, dance
gather spirits

seven abound
seven all around
consecrated drums
papa's stories of Damballah

kicking kuku
jumping to chunks of cadence
prospect park
Conga square in the dark

"doobie, go low, low."
touch the earth
down, low, low
give it up to the God's
young feet sweep
accent space

Cora's babies
Great Queen Sengalese
yield a generation in America
promised papa a trip to Mecca

mama nursed stories to be told
while papa stretched goat skins to be sold
left drying in stuyvesant sun
congas waiting to be blessed

a garden for me
turning hoeing hard soil
picking burnt smoke pipes
bullets butts, tossed pennies
flourish fruits behind the slave

our house rocked
man! it was all love
mama the hipshaker
head jerking
snapping neck
to "The Big Pay Back"

there she goes
lordy have mercy
leg kick to the air
break down
to the ground
split

couldn't wait to snap crackle
finger pop
old, new, hip hop
doing the wop

lolloping, skipping in and out of turning loops
first pair bamboo hoops
jingling golden shine
jamaican dancing
Mr. Blake's backyard
Jamaica South Side
back to the crisp street of Bed Stuy

born to burn
born to pray
born to be
ceremonies born

Brook land Ghetto child...

© 2010 Lepadah




I want the raw truth, feel free to knock me on my back
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Submitted by kailashana on 31 August 2010 - 3:30pm.

Nominated, ghetto child, I
Nominated, ghetto child, I can hear the rhythm of the streets.

~A

“Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.” ~ Jayne Goodall

reply
Submitted by poeticjustice on 31 August 2010 - 7:03pm.

Pardon my language but this
5
Pardon my language but this was fucking awesome…..I’m waiting for more….Blessed Be, Patrick

reply
Submitted by pleiades on 31 August 2010 - 7:20pm.

poeticjustice took the
poeticjustice took the words
right out of my mouth

one of the best pieces of writing
i’ve read in a long time

nominated

cheers
p

reply
Submitted by race_9togo on 1 September 2010 - 12:18am.

Hey
new
5
Rich, sensual, intricate, intimate and beautiful.
Nominated.
I think I will explore Brooklyn, on my next vacation.

Respectfully

Jim

“Laws and rules don’t kill freedom: narrow-minded intolerance does” : Race




From: SparkyDashforth (SparkyDashforth)
Last Visit: 10:21 AM

To: lepadahxxx
Posted: Sep 01 10 11:34 AM
Message:
55280.2 (2 of 3)
Reply to 55280.1


A brilliant masterpiece Lepadah.

Awesome writing.

I have one suggestion -

I would end the poem on the line

"born to be"



Bravo!



sparkus



5
Ive been to New York, a long time ago we drove through Brooklyn … and you make me want to go back and stop and feel the life that just seems to vibrate through your poem

as above have said … and I agree its the best piece of writing ive read in an age …

Applause

love JayCee

(“I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.” Og Mandino quotes)





GODISTHE1
Female, 49, Oklahoma City, OK
Posted 2 hours ago

This is NICE!!



dondagriot
Male, 49, Detroit, MI
Posted 14 hours ago
this one has my toes snappin. love the way weave culture so gracefully into this. so great your pen. much respect my quee

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Dope Utopia

Eye don't do dope
but pill bottles of hope
dream like a fiend
searching nights dream

visions of kahlo adaptation
life seen through
"El ojo avizor"
some super fantastic nightmare
edge cliff scare
living thru the dare

jump, jump...
paradise snake eyes
dream death rules the unknown
wanna gamble
you rather scramble

somewhere a desert
is waiting for me
feel the boiling earth
unquenchable thirst

inside chambered crevices
slither snakes spitting tongues
sticking they're prey
shoot a crippled eye
unafraid to view death

so malevolent a spectacle
stalking the assailable
tiny quadruped tangle string legs
fighting inevitability

crawling to spy another capture
turning back
sighted wings spread upon
screech a curse
jimi strung strumming out there
somewhere

claws protracted
a large bird swooping
plucked them crippled eyes
one at a time

pitted snakes wriggled apace
caress eyeballs
rolling around aimlessly

blind is thy heathen a crawl
scream silent desolation
blood pouring between them nasty fingers
no longer able to witness
killing in the chasm

eye don't do dope
just like to dream
outside the darkness
into utopia


© 2010 Lepadah


....this blaaaaaaazzzzzeeeeesss across the mind's third eye.

great

greater

greatest

one yet

Obatala

Friday, August 20, 2010

Texas Cowboy Singing to Midnight

midnight's ugly position
on such a lighted day
a lover distress
his prominent behest

so very pretty
the song
even the twang
cowboy sang

he wanted to bear
the burden of her solitude
just because
smitten
by the black kitten
rare in your world

sign nostalgia stuck in the pasteur
"we treat you white"
no color entry
redress musical notes

cowboy bed been tainted
once before stood a black stallion
rode bareback forcing submission
reckon he'll ride again

mama, papa had no idea
their son born to roam
outside city limits
believed to be one hundred
genetic soil not spoiled
by unwanted meadow muffins

an unwelcome guest
but so very pretty
her poetry

so very lovely
just call cowboy lucky
those honeyed thighs
belie
dreamed of licking her backside
fantasy entertain
without reins

awaken midnight
from her intoxicated sleep
voice punchy
prescription pills, booze

his recovery
unlike desire
shaking off truth with a facetious lie of laughter
steady sipping distilled spirits

cowboy crying on strings
for midnight to come someday
stay long enough to hear the guitar play
somewhere outside city limits


© 2010 Lepadah


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Texas Cowboy Singing to Midnight
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From: (farkas)
Last Visit: 2:59 PM

To: lepadahxxx
Posted: Aug 20 10 03:09 PM
Message:

This stuff is loaded with
daring brilliance...

farkas


Hi Lepadah...
5
I was thinking of you last night…
Remembering one of your poems.
And now, I find this beauty…
a sweet Synchronicity-like happy happenstance!


Because this one is sublime, Lepadah…
(I know I say that about your poetry alot; but there it is there.)
…took me back to Texas, and you know…things. Things of the heart…


Exquisite work, Lepadah…


Raven


“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”


-Michelangelo


PS Your choice for the title is just right!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Summer Dayz Slow Danzing

slowly we drag
into a swag
slick into a hold
you fold
your weight around me
no escape

just the heart beat
patting along
to Bloodstone "Natural High"
hit heaven pitch
swung slowly into a period
not to be forgotten

Nixon's shade
on watergate
oh! so fugazi
gave way

Mick's lips
sweet lumps of "Brown Sugar"
Mothership connection finally touch down
gave birth to star child
Mayfield's "running wild"

Bruce Lee dies
marijuana alive
pot heads and the DEA
instead of crack cocaine

bell bottom pants
satin flowered shirts , mini skirts
marshmallow shoes
very first pair of Pro Keds

you dragged into my sweetheart years
how we dance this evening
in the basement
just us two
step left switch right
with no light

just a one eyed moon standing
cradling a moment
easy now biddy baby side to side
sweeping into a grown folks grind
two vines ready release unwind

slowly..,


© 2010 Lepadah




**********************************************

Summer Dayz Slow Danzing


From: SparkyDashforth (SparkyDashforth)

To: lepadahxxx
Posted: Aug 12 10 12:13 AM
Message:

Yes!

Enjoyed all the way through.

Great unsweetened nostalgia.



Sparks




From: 68degrees (68degrees)
Last Visit: Aug-11

To: lepadahxxx
Unread
Posted: Aug 11 10 10:49 PM
Message: 



This is a fun poem. Fun to read and I'll betcha', very fun to listen to being read.

Reminds me a bit of Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire"...

68degrees


From: trkyounger (trkyounger)
Last Visit: 11:47 AM
To: lepadahxxx
Posted: Aug 12 10 11:56 AM
Message:
55097.6 (6 of 7)
Reply to 55097.1
...you have really grown into such a great writer.

i really am so proud of you

peace

Obatala


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Summer Dayz Slow Danzing

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From: smifffy (smifffy)
Last Visit: 2:23 AM


To: lepadahxxx
Posted: Aug 13 10 02:37 AM
Message: 
55097.8 (8 of 8)
Reply to 55097.1


Enjoyed the read, Bloodstone, great tune one for the MP3 me thinks, thanks for reminding me of it, kind of poem that gets me every time memory association

                                             loved it

                                                 Smithers  {Curtis, Geniuswith such a sweet voice}






embers comments:
 =  lepadah
Veronica Valeanu
[12.Aug.10 17:31]
i keep imagining acid jazz maybe downtempo
and all your texts excel in stealing tearing moulding rhythms
you have an acute sense of musicality somewhere - where the blanks lead to strikes of fiction



| Hello, Lepadah.
|
| We'd like to let you know about new comments:
|
| Author: Lepadah
| Subject: Summer Dayz Slow Danzing

| ---------------------------------
| New comment:
| Author: race_9togo
| Title: Hi Lepadah

5

I am sorry beyond measure that I am late to this party, because wow, this is
beyond good.
I cannot really find anything wrong with this. On the first read there seemed
a strange sort of disconnection of words and meaning, but this is beat poetry
in the best traditions of the genre, in my opinion, and so the layers of
different meaning implied and explicit in the words are just marvelous. I
feel nostalgia, memory, pleasure and remembrance all piling up with each new
read, and I love it.
The only reference I did not understand was “fugazi”, but of course the
sum total of all human knowledge is at my fingertips, so i looked them up,
heehee.
This is nominated.


Respectfully


Jim


“Laws and rules don’t kill freedom: narrow-minded intolerance does” :
Race