POEM + AUDIO: SHARING IS HEREDITARY

 

Sharing is hereditary

 

my four foot-eleven mother was world wise yet unburdened

by the cloying cynicism sophistication so often suggests

she projected a generous spirit adeptly balancing gifting

and keeping her nose out of other people's greed, and

equally, my burly country bred father taught us

the eternal lesson: regardless of how you looked

or what others thought, there was no wrong in doing right

 

the curatorial joy of their prescient caring shaped three

strapping sons who continue to strive to match inola's

exalted social statue and to embody big val's prophetic

folk wisdom, our parents offered the treasury of themselves

and thereby ushered our entrance into the sanctuary

of responsive and responsible manhood wherein we fulfill

ourselves by emptying our hearts into the life cups of others

 

 

_____________________

 

Kalamu ya Salaam – vocals

Stephan Richter – clarinet

Wolfi Schlick – reeds

Frank Bruckner – guitar

Mathis Mayer - cello

Georg Janker - bass

Michael Heilrath - bass

Roland HH Biswurm - drums

 

 

Recorded: June 14, 1998 – "ETA Theatre" Munich, Germany

 

 

 

—kalamu ya salaam