let me sense the chaos
a semi-autobiography
(based on the mca jimi @ woodstock CD)
And those who took away our Voice
Are now surprised
They couldn't take away our Song.
--Kofi Anyidoho
1.
in the news
every
day
the blk world
gasping
fragmented / confused
trying
to grasp
itself
confused / fragmented
fresh murders
marbling the sidewalks
of our psyches
in an indelible redness
no future sun can bleach
"in Rwanda
ten thousand dead
in one day"
2.
i know that bosnia is bad
but have you seen liberia
have you heard haiti
been seized by rio's preteen
street grown gangstas
or ingested the platinum
raps of inner city america
celebrating its own depravity
today's blkness
makes humpty dumpty look whole
3.
we are
the palsied palms
of ex-chattel
picking melodies
african black
& mulatto
intermixed with the eye tears
of murdered cherokee
& dappled
by the martial noise
from motley strains
of conquering caucasians
chortling praise
to their bellicose god
this mixture is the indigo matrix
of my muse's midnight hue
4.
have we survived the past
only to give up the present
the speedy spin
of integration
flings us
away from groundings
with our people
a chocolate despair consumes
our sweetness
leaving the dry bones
of neglected unity
disconnected & rotted
is the bottom line higher
than the common good
5.
i have a new cd
of ancestral soundz
previously unreleased
roaring strings timbred to a keening
juice of electric hurling through
akin to the incredible jism jerk
of groin muscles shooting off
i needed to make this hollering
this ghostly heart cry
loudly
leaping
through
the thick
of rhythms'
din
there is
always a need
to assert
humanness
to cry
to announce
i am
6.
the road to life
is no gentle path
birth is a renting of flesh
a messy letting
of dangerous blood
rife with pain & promise
& ultimately
merely momentary existence
amidst the vastness
of eternity
7.
within the cruelty of this
avaricious modernity
life's mystery
is the capacity of color
to forge beauty
from the chaos
the simple courage
to shed
systemic chicness
& stand unshod
authoring the gospel
of musical creativity
8.
such singing
whether with others
with orchestra
with hand instruments
or single voice alone
such singing is answer
is signpost
signifying
we've found a sound
that turns the temporary
of today's tough earth
into a life long
spiritual home
9.
without dark sound sanctuary
nurturing imagination
my future is limited
to this tone deaf present
except within vibrant
hymnal shelter
how else can
my soul survive
10.
yes
let me sense the chaos
listen
to my blues resound
let me sense the chaos
i will respond
with a song
let me
sense the chaos
why else
was i
born
—kalamu ya salaam