Afro Vision
I don’t want to want
a past I never knew.
I don’t want to want
romance remembered
partially true.
I don’t want to wish.
my lover was a panther
sleek, black and strong
let the CIA answer
why my love wasn’t bulletproof
and now my afro works like a sponge
to soak up his blood
proving once again
it was more than just a hairstyle.
Billie was moaning.
Coltrane was blowing.
Harlem was home
to Hughes, Hurston and Baldwin.
I don’t want to want
the past more than i want now
the good old days
were nowadays then.
The more we fear the future, (read death)
give up on today, (read apathy)
and become increasingly, sentimental
about an irretrievable past (read partially sighted)
the more we lose the chance
to make today historical, significant,
beautiful, livable
the power in them then
is in us now
to discover when
we learn how to
tap the past
for fuel today.
Guide me please ancestors.
into tomorrow
remain in light and stay.
I will play my jazz records.
all scratchy and worn
and dance through the words
of poets dead ‘fore
I was born.
if you see me glide
through brixton market, alpine calypso,
gathering things for indoors
let us greet in recognition.
the future is mine and it is yours.
Reconstruction time.
Welcome to the age of aquarius.