Abeng Poetry: Pounds of Black Ice (Urban Poetry)

               Urban #Poetry: Pounds of Black Ice (Justice Can't Breathe)

                                 Copyright  K. Omodele 2015

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

You stop us; frisk us

with yuh Giuliani justus*

You sweat us; no let up,

Now it's ninety-six degrees

You go me swingin' on a noose

in this Home of the Freeze

Strung up in a tree

It's so hard to breathe.

You got me 'gainst a wall

moving slower than Diallo

reachin' for I.D.

Your gun hand tremblin' like leaves

yuh fingers twitchin' up to squeeze

tension tighter than a sneeze

You want me down on my knees-

strange fruit me up in trees?

Fifty lead-starred shells

hammered young Sean Bell

pounded promises of life

from his never-will-be-wife.

Black Life? Candle flames

flickerin' in Chi-town** winds;

flutterin' blades of grass

driven by the breeze.

So tread light, Trayvons!

Noose tight! My fight?

Those iron tones and shifty vibes

Garner-ed behind officers' hooded eyes.

I hear the CRACKing of yuh whip

in gavel CLACKS and cuff CLICKS

Mass incarceration slick; three TICKS-

TOCK. Lives stocked behind a fence.

You say, "Justice is blind." Right!

The dirty slut couldn't see?

Charleston BLAMMED down to his knees?

Rice Mama soaked in tears of grief?

In Staten Isle I can't breathe

Oh Eleven London banged up

Oh Twelve Linden pushed her hands up

Now, Cleveland stand up? Slut can't you see?

Chocolate cities screamin'

Baltimore burnin'

Same song 'round the world

Same turntable*** turning-

spinning sounds of strife,

how a pounded Black life

is worth so much more than pounds of black ice.****

In this world of ruby sunsets, can you believe?

Justus got me on a noose, it's so hard to breathe.

* justice for some; justice for a selected few

** Chicago

*** record player

**** black ice - black diamonds

ABENG CARIBBEAN POETRY: CALYPSO (in TENNESSEE)

Caribbean Poetry: Calypso (in Tennessee)

       copyright 2014 K. Omodele

 



So, they're footin' it, side by side, shiverin'

'cross this Chat Town bridge with

pinkened lights, above, mellowing the

late-October dusk.

When they stop, toe the rail

overlookin' a docked-

grounded riverboat hotel,

she whispers, "It 'pose to be possessed; y'know, like haunted."

Then in her smile's incandescent wake the runnin' river shimmers

and the whole surroundin', suffocatin' city lights.

Then when she clutches his arm and

enwraps nippy fingers with hers,

it's like love-cravin' legs, like thighs,

her ankles encircling his back,

drawin' him in close, urgin'

"I'm try'na leave. Nex' time you go home,

PLEASE, take me with you!"

And this is the moment she begins, finally,

easing through his board and zinc fence.

Slips in, slow-ly, inching her way in

for the first time- she, spirited songbird

coos down his soul, entwines their thoughts,

titillates dreams, massages his need

to be needed; caressing wanting.

"Ain't no rush," he'd told her a while before

but both now realise she can masquerade no more

her lingering itch- her longing for

stimulating moments brimming over with Being

followed by endless wide-eyed

world-wide, whirl-wind tomorrows.

Now, face to face, their breathing flutters

hummingbirds suspended

       mid-air

her excitement building,

hovers-anticipating

long, deep-strokin', Rapture-floodin'-a

moon-soaked beach-in-a-hammock-under-

his-palm-tree nights...

             WHEW!

Temperature risin' now, beats throbbin' hot

Rubbin her up- this tropical riddim

tweakin' her treble, reverbin' her bass

pumpkin pumpin', pulsatin' her sumthin'

gradually sweetin', she- ripenin' papaw-

Tempo increasin', gatherin', growin'

now hurricane surgin'

'pon Carnival steel, pulse

pan, pangin'; pannin' and bangin'

slammin and rammin'

jammin' steamily

yearnin'. for. MORE:

BambooFireBurnin'DesireLifeLight

Stars Bright

Moonbeams SPARK

gush thru she heart

Now gallops settle and trot

trembles. sighs. still, now.

Eyes fill with wonder

mind graspin'

pantin'. gaspin'.

She breathless,

Kai so ca lypso

all up in she

Tennessee.