Gerren Liles

"Experiences are the stones of life, you can build walls or build steps."
―Gerren Liles

shoebox by Gerren Liles

an elderly woman sits at her window
bearing witness to the daily events
of the neighbor
          hood      lums
                       or
                       slum

but I call it home.

my halls are not marked
with friendly greetings.
some of my friends
greeted their Maker
before making
something
of themselves.
each day you live
has become a special occasion.

she watches a woman
pull her baggage closer
when sincerity walks by.
you can’t trust anyone these days.
especially yourself.

a few feet ahead six fourth-graders
are running away with the jacket
of another boy.
they dis card
any notion of sympathy
believing that
what they don’t have
must define what another should have.

some of us look at them with disdain.

have you ever
watched the sun rise
from a project window?
it’s rays are broken by iron bars
but the shadows cast over
a people’s desire to redefine
                         their reality
                              could be
                                   yours.

Truly. by Gerren Liles

an elderly woman sits at her window
bearing witness to the daily events
of the neighbor
          hood      lums
                       or
                       slum

but I call it home.

my halls are not marked
with friendly greetings.
some of my friends
greeted their Maker
before making
something
of themselves.
each day you live
has become a special occasion.

she watches a woman
pull her baggage closer
when sincerity walks by.
you can’t trust anyone these days.
especially yourself.

a few feet ahead six fourth-graders
are running away with the jacket
of another boy.
they dis card
any notion of sympathy
believing that
what they don’t have
must define what another should have.

some of us look at them with disdain.

Truly.

Many have claimed that their road to self-fulfillment began with a poem by Gerren Liles. This 24 year-old Brooklyn native and Morgan State University graduate attacks the hardships of life with selfless compassion, fulfilling his desire to uncover the beauty and strength that lies within all of us. In a world where the spirit compromises itself for the sake of conformity, he is a firm believer in the power of unconditional love and acceptance. An upbringing of community service, manhood development, and a discovery of his talent for expression shaped his goal of using poetry as a means for promoting literacy and self-empowerment to black youth. In following his own advice, he shifted his focus from the performance aspect of his poetry to becoming a better writer. He began reading the likes of Sonia Sanchez, Ai, Nikki Giovanni, and Saul Williams.

Gerren was a finalist for MTV's Real World: Hawaii in 1998. He has opened for the likes of Haki Madhubuti, Na'im Akbar, and Jawanza Kunjufu. His work has been featured in Mosaic magazine. He was selected to participate in the coveted Cave Canem Poetry Workshop in New York during the fall of 2000. Gerren has performed at numerous colleges, universities, expos, cultural events, poetry slams, graduations, and has made a number of radio and television appearances. He speaks to youth regularly and currently serves as a group leader at a children's center. His first collection of poems, On The Road To Damascus, has developed a readership throughout the US and Europe. His second volume, The Sky Did Not Move, will be available winter 2001 under Black Alchemist Press, Ink.

damascuscover
On The Road to Damascus
Click to order via Amazon

"The Road to Damascus is a delightful book of poetry that touches the heart and eloquently expresses the African American experience. It is sure to move readers of all ages."
―Angela Kinamore, Poetry Editor Essence Magazine

a dialogue pt. II: the black woman
by Gerren Liles

how can you love me
when I do not
love myself?

because
I love
me
enough
to love
you.

poet. forgive me.
your speech
is foreign.

I’m no longer
fluent in
honesty.
the black woman
you once knew
is lost
in the vast
desert
of lost men
and cannot be found.

how can you be lost?

I open my eyes to see
Eve/
ning
give birth to
sun/
rise
and
remember
who you are.

who I am
          escapes me
for fear of being enslaved
by a revolutionary
mentality.
I wish not to be
held captive
by my conscience.
forced to spend
my life
          picking
colleges
and planting
          nations
on plantations.
I am fearful
of releasing
          The Nile
between my legs
for black men
to swim to freedom.
they have not yet learned
to tread
          slaughter.

we are willing to die with you.
but refuse to live without you.

let me be       the one.

I will make
a million
poems
march
to
your bedside.
rewrite your wrongs
till you become
a work of art
that cannot be seen
with the naked
heart.

can you?

can you
look past being
intimate
&
look
into me?

can you penpoint
Afrika
on this ebony map?
locate the courage
of Maasai women
anxious for their returning warriors?

will you come in
like the night
and make
my son
rise?

poet.
if you can do these things
I will give you
the world.

just love me.

that is enough.

Related Links

Black Alchemist Press
http://www.blackalchemistpress.com