February 14, 1991

Tags

happy birthday, homage, schlobohm, schroeder street, the hole

February 14, 1991

I’ll never forget the day; I’ll never forget the year

 

I remember when them dirt-bags tried to jump and you suddenly appeared

 

You stood there to make sure I got a fair one, they ain’t wanna shoot the fair one

 

Edwin and I never got chased after that day in ‘85,

Lord knows I was so glad to run into you and Saint-Claire that day in ‘85

 

My mind state was “I might be young but I can still hold a gun,” after you died

 

I was riddled with so many questions – at first glance I had to second-guess the who’s, how’s, and why’s – after you died

 

Sometimes, I still wonder: who could kill the coolest man alive?
You’re still the coolest dude I ever knew, dead or alive

 

It’s been 27 years to date and I still wish you were here

Sometimes I see you with the LL Kangol, frontin’ in the square

 

Heaven only knows what I would do to hear you say: “if you don’t look like your cousin Taylor ha, I swear”

 

It’s been 27 years to date and I still wish you were here

 

Sometimes, I wonder: how it feels to celebrate a birthday knowing your twin is not here

 

Long story short, cousin Dan – you was the man,
I just wanted to take a moment to let you know you still got love out here

 

–@StevieStreets #homage #poem | February 14, 1991

 

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Burning Sage

Tags

black girl magic, good vibes only, hey natural hair, sage, smudging, sweetgrass, wcw

I got a thing for women that burn sage
And rock box braids

I’m a fan of sisterlocks with the updo or the french braids
I know my wcw is out there somewhere knockin’ Erykah Badu smudging sage
Wafting good vibes in the air

I got an affinity for kinky hair
I’m looking for a melanated sister, crowned with natural hair
She could don a headwrap or rock Jane Carter Solution in her hair

I got short hair love too, you could shave your head boo
I don’t care
I’ll take a baldheaded queen with style and flair
Long as your energy is soothing to my soul, we could roll

I need someone whose energy is healing to my soul
Hey Natural Hair, I could feel it in the air
I love you’re energy, you’re such a beautiful soul
Maybe we could stroll through a bookstore
Or discourse privately amid swirls of incense and remnants of neo – soul

You can catch me manifesting with ancient mystics, scrubbing sweetgrass smoke into my palms
But don’t be alarmed
Bonita Applebum, you gotta put me on

I mean…
It’s nothin’ but good vibes over here
Dear Black Coffee,
There’s no need for chamomile tea or lavender oil whenever you are near

To clear the air
I represent the good vibes only tribe over here
Yet I find myself awaiting that sweet awakening, my dear
Yeah, I’m sweet on that Black Girl Magic
It feels like daylight, daylight whenever you appear
I gotta keep you near

I mean,
Everybody loves the sunshine
Uh, yeah
I’m digging your whole vibe
Oh, gonna make you mine
Light the sage, let’s vibe

 

–@StevieStreets #hopelessromantic #poem | Burning Sage

Starry Night

Tags

afro bloomin', black girl magic, cafe terrace at night, dawn, hopeless romantic, star eyes, starry night, sunflowers

Sweeter than the sound of mandolins on starry nights

Timeless as the beauty of the Starry Night

 

Oh star eyes,

Let me stargaze at the magic in your eyes tonight

Meet by the Café Terrace at Night

 

Maybe we can go on an art stroll or finger paint by candlelight

Let my fingers trace your outline

Let your hands fade into my hands,

I don’t want to know your hand from mine

Let me marvel at that Black Girl Magic neath the moonlight

 

I wanna serenade you with poems like:

“She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright” 1

 

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” 2

 

“I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where…” 3

 

“I carry your heart with me (I carry it my heart)

I am never without it (anywhere I go you go, my dear…)” 4

 

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” 5

Thou art the dawn that draws songbirds,

My Woman Crush Wednesday, everyday

 

Sweeter than the sound of mandolins on starry nights

Timeless as the beauty of the Starry Night

 

Oh Queen of 10,000 moons,

This loves jones got me seeking to be your Brother to the night

 

Come ‘ere,

I wanna shower you with kisses,

Plant a flower in your hair

Is that alright?

 

It’s like I wish upon a star when I smell the coconut oil in your hair

I got a thing for that twist out with the flower near your ear

 

Portraits of you in a yellow sundress with the afro bloomin’ dawn on me

Like honeybees alighting on Sunflowers on sunny days

 

Oh, how I adore your natural hair journey

And ah, that body language has so much to say…

That inner glow is like whoa

Oh, star eyes,

In the darkest hour you tend to brighten the day

 

Picture yellow roses with a message card that reads:

“Gather ye rosebuds while ye may” 6

And I say that to say…

I wanna shower you with flowers just because…

Just because you brighten my day

 

The very thought of you is reminiscent to Nina Simone’s Wild As the Wind on replay

Thank you for the essence of all that is you…

Consider this a memento to immortalize the beauty of your dark skin,

Those star eyes,

And the way you brighten my day

 

–@StevieStreets | from THE HOPELESS ROMANTIC COLLECTION: Starry Night

_______

1 She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron

2 Sonnet XLIII: How Do I Love Thee? by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

3 Sonnet XVII: One Hundred Love Sonnets by Pablo Neruda

4 I Carry Your Heart With Me (I Carry It In My Heart) by E.E. Cummings

5 Sonnet XVIII: Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer’s Day? by William Shakespeare

6 To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time by Robert Herrick

 

🎨: Van Gogh

Dear Awkward Black Girl, I Get You

Tags

000 moons, 10, black girl magic, dear awkward black girl, i get you, she's strange and i like it

Sundress looking lovely as the sunrise
All that Black Girl Magic with the magic in your eyes
How could I not get you? Lets make it official
DEAR AWKWARD BLACK GIRL, I Get You
Who would’ve thought I’d get you
YOU’RE ALL I NEED
I see 10,000 moons when I’m with you
I’ll gallivant around the galaxies and swoon Oshun just to get you

–@StevieStreets #igetyou #poem | Dear Awkward Black Girl, I Get You [she’s strange and i like it]

 

To The Women Whom I’ve Loved and Lost

Tags

emotionally scarred, INFJ, insecurities, languages of love, maybe i deserve, to the women i onced loved, vulnerability

To the women whom I’ve loved and lost:

Thank you for putting up with my shenanigans and antics

Thank you for giving hope to this hopeless romantic

And to the one that got away, I hold you in my memory banks at all costs

 

To the one that could be my baby’s mother and to the one that should be my Misses

 

I never meant to hurt you

And apologize for leaving you emotionally scarred

 

I want you to know, it wasn’t that I was emotionally unavailable;

Pretending I didn’t care for you when you left was incredibly hard

 

You gave me the kiss of life

Yet my foolish pride turned a piece of paradise into a cemetery of kisses

 

Maybe I deserve to watch you get married

Maybe a part of me died the day you miscarried

Maybe a fistful of tears is too much to carry

 

To the woman whom I’ve loved and lost,

May you find it in your heart to forgive me?

 

If my inability to love you gently led you to leave behind a trail of broken men,

Please forgive me

 

And to the woman that reads my poetry and can’t understand how I find it hard to express love:

I’m not blackhearted, I don’t have a blackheart

Black Love is beautiful, loving you is easy,

However, I’m learning how to accept love

I’m opening the dialogue to express love, albeit through a poem

I know you think I don’t have feelings

I’m learning to put my vulnerability out there,

Understand, I want to be a better man, I want to right my wrongs

I’ve been deflecting my insecurities for years,

To communicate better, I literally write my wrongs

Incidentally, my languages of love have destroyed women that I truly love;

If you look into my heart you’ll see, I wanna build God Body Knowledge

But my demons are living with me

I got feelings, I just lost a portion with each abortion;

You cannot love me if I don’t love myself,

I still ain’t forgive me

If you can’t understand how I’m antisocial yet social,

Please forgive me

I know my INFJ Myers Briggs is hell

But I see heaven in your eyes,

May you be patient with me?

 

–@StevieStreets #ode #tothewomenionceloved | To The Women Whom I’ve Loved and Lost

Poem in A Pocket Day Ode

Tags

library out loud, petrarch, pocket-sized verses, poem in a pocket day, poetry aloud

PUT A POEM IN YOUR POCKET!
It’s poem in your pocket day;
Celebrate by carrying a poem to share with others today.
Give the gift of poetry, don’t get out of pocket.

Start a poems for pockets giveaway.
Distribute pocket-sized verses to senior centers or nursing homes.
GO TO THE LIBRARY, memorize a poem.
EXPLORE THE STACKS, discover 811 [eight-one-one] today.

LIBRARY OUT LOUD!
poetry is allowed,
POERTY ALOUD.

A-B-B-A A-B-B-A C-D-E C-D-E,
If you love the art.

A-B-B-A A-B-B-A C-D-E C-D-E,
One time for Petrarch.

A-B-B-A A-B-B-A C-D-E C-D-E,
For the little song in your heart.

–@StevieStreets #sonnet | Poem in Your Pocket Day Ode

JAZZ and POETRY

Tags

781.65, 811, chilin circuit, congo square, jazz age, jazz appreciation month, national poetry month, new negro movement

April celebrates poetry and jazz
Peace to the #poets talkin’ all that jazz

We appreciate the cultural heritage of Congo Square
Peace to the ancestors that gathered there

I say jazz is poetry and poetry is jazz
Peace to the scribes and the vibes, it’s all spiritual

Ase! Jazz is poetry and poetry is jazz
Peace to the Jazz Age, the New Negro Movement, and the brave new voices that continue to perform the rituals

ART IS ACTIVISM,
It is the duty of the poets and writers to carry on the tradition

Art defines culture,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave
My heart blood bleeds for Black Bards and Black Musicians

Peace to the blerds and those that deserve honorable mention

This is for the Chitlin Circuit hoofers, playwrights, authors, poets, and jazz musicians
Peace to the ancestors that brought Black Arts into fruition

I got rhythm, I got rhymes
I dance to the beat of a different drum
I’m so seven eighty one point six five (781.65) and eight one one (811)
My dewey deserves an honorable mention

My poems are not poems
For those that pay attention,
This is the coda for the invisible poets and silenced musicians

This is a 30/30 challenge to discover those that the history books failed to mention

April celebrates jazz and poetry
Explore the stacks, frequent the call numbers that were previously mentioned

Write a poem, learn an instrument
Do The Write Thing, Do The Read Thing if you dare

Tell the world “Hip Hop is American Poetry” if you dare

Go to a spoken word event,
Purchase your friend’s poetry book this year

Go to that jazz concert,
Donate to that jazz station this year

Teach someone to read and write, if you care
Pay homage to those that died so you could read and write
FIND YOUR TRIBE, support Black Open Markets
Remember Congo Square

Recognize the rich history of When the Saints Go Marching In
Put A Poem In Your Pocket
Use your voice when the media gets out of pocket
Recognize THE POWER OF THE PEN

Once again, April celebrates jazz and poetry
The End

–@StevieStreets #JazzAppreciationMonth slash #NationalPoetryMonth #poem | JAZZ and POETRY

Bookshop Love revisited

Tags

afro bloomin', bookish, bookshop love, borders bookstore, in a sentimental mood, te amo, well read black girl

To the cutie in the cafe reading The Coldest Winter Ever,
Sipping Seattle’s Best;
I like BIG BOOKS and I cannot lie,
your smile is the warmest ever…

This is dedicated to my bookshop love:
My I heart Borders Bookstore girl
The cutie in college working at the bookstore by night
My chocalate kiss exoticness
Ms. R&B and Urban Fiction are the only addictions in my life

This is dedicated to the one that introduced me to Save Room by John Legend
The Dutch Trilogy collection
The bestseller’s list in Essence
This is for the book lover that inspired me to start a book club reminiscent of Black Expressions
Oh how I adore my bookshop love

This is for my bookshop beauty:
My adorable around the way girl
The cutie in the café reading The Coldest Winter Ever
Sipping Seattle’s Best, her smile is the warmest ever

This dedicated to melanated goddess that finds solace in the bookstore
That afro bloomin’ wit’ the melanin poppin’ knowledge of self droppin’ kind that you can always find in the bookstore
This is for the under-celebrated, highly educated woman that I adore
Before we put this one in the books, I had to take a moment to say te amo, mi amor
Oh how I my bookshop beauty

For the love of books, music, and movies
Blessed be the day that I met my bookshop beauty
This is an ode to the blerd and the beautiful
From yours truly
I’m a fan of the well read black girl
And I got a thing for discourse that takes course with “THE BOOK WAS BETTER THAN THE MOVIE”
This was written to show my bookshop love some love
turn up a book and do the read thing, show a black woman some love
Get a library card, buy a black woman a book
Show a bookshop beauty some love 😍😍📚

Books come in all colors
Yet, I fell for the girl reading black books at the bookstore
Peace, One Love

–@StevieStreets #inasentimentalmood #poem | Bookshop Love revisited

Kinky Tresses

Tags

bantu knots, black girl magic, coconut oil, kinky hair, kinky twists, tresses, twist out, wcw, women crush wednesdays

I’m a sucker for kinky tresses
and tight dresses.

I’m mesmerized by the scent of coconut oil
and women that are loyal.

If you rock bantu knots or a twistout,
woman I adore you. 😍😍

Yeah – I’m a sucker for kinky tresses
and tight dresses.

–@StevieStreets #wcw #poem | Kinky Tresses: an ode to that ol’ black girl magic

WHO ARE YOU?

Tags

I AM, know thyself, self-awareness, self-image, self-talk, subconscious, thoughts

WHO ARE YOU?
I’m not asking about your name or where you are from.
I’m not asking about your occupation or the things you have done.
I’m asking: Who Are You?

The most important words that you shall ever speak will immediately proceed the phrase I AM;
so I repeat: Who Are You?

What kind of self-image are you painting? – Do you draw conclusions? – Where do you draw inspiration from? – What kind of self-image are you painting?

Are you kind to yourself? – What kind of thoughts are you thinking? – Do you know life and death lie in the power of the tongue? – Are you kind in your self-talk? – What kind of thoughts are you thinking?

I’m asking: Who Are You?

Who do you think you are? – Who are you? – Tell me who you think you are?

What makes you who are? – Who are you? – Tell me what makes you who are?

Can you tell me who you are? – Who are you? – Tell me who you are?

I don’t know how well you know yourself; I don’t know if you ever thought about who you are…
Nevertheless, I pose the question “Who are you?” to draw you closer to who you are. – Do you see who you are?

I don’t know if we’re the sum total of our thoughts; who knows if your mental lexicon defines who you are…
What I know for sure is the meaning of life is revealed to those that discover who they are. – Do you know who you are?

They say one can never travel beyond one’s thoughts; if so, you better keep your thinking up to par…
One thing’s for certain, you won’t go far without a conscious mind – keep that in mind – from this time on, get to know thyself – you deserve to know who you are. – Do you think about who you are?

–@StevieStreets #subconscious #sonnet | from THE BOOK OF QUESTIONS: WHO ARE YOU? (An Ode to I AM)