Book Excerpt – Shedding Light From My Journeys
Shedding Light From My Journeys
by DuEwa M. Frazier
Publication Date: Sep 23, 2012
List Price: $12.00
Format: Paperback, 62 pages
Classification: Poetry
ISBN13: 9780971905269
Imprint: Lit Noire Publishing
Publisher: Lit Noire Publishing
Parent Company: Lit Noire Publishing
Read a Description of Shedding Light From My Journeys
Copyright © 2012 Lit Noire Publishing/DuEwa M. Frazier No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission from the publisher or author. The format of this excerpt has been modified for presentation here.
Mami, mami, ju
look so good, are ju
married ? I think in
a past life I was Spanish
cause the papis in the
hood, they talk to me
like I’m their sister, they
call me mami like
I am their
hermana cause I
look like one of them
now I know we all come
from the same African mold
different hair, different colors-
negro, blanco, y tan y amarillo
Af-ri-ca is where I’m from
bidi bidi bidi bamba
bidi bidi bidi bamba
batita bati batita bati
when I dance to latin/salsa/calypso
music I can’t stop twisting and
stepping and moving my hips
and eyes like a coy Puerto Rican
princess and the Latin Don Juan
who’s asked me to dance wants
to know my name and says,
’ay mami, jhwere ju from? you
dance like jure from home’ from
my home - mi casa es Dominica
Puerto Rico, Colombia, Cuba, Nu Yawk,
Nu Yawk Nu Yawk Nu Yawk baby
home, salsa, merengue, bamba
samba
home, home, home, home
Afro-Cuban-Carib drum beats
home, home, home, home
and I can’t stop moving my hips
and eyes like a coy Puerto Rican
princess with fire at my feet because
I am sister to my Puerto Rican
brothers and sisters
la negra y africana mujer de la
espiritu
Go Now This Is Your Time
I awoke from years of
unconsciousness and
unfolding like a butterfly
from a cocoon
I cried many days and
nights-
days I cried
days I prayed
days I waited
for instruction
for the still voice
within my soul
saying Go now this
is your time
I looked back, though not
for long, on the many
teachers I have met
and the lessons they have
taught me
on my path
They were teachers of a
teaching profession
they were brothers, soul friends
angels and healers
and there were some scholars
and some were writers and
other artists I admired
from afar
all saying go ahead and do
that thing you do, walk with
your head up and never be
ashamed of who you are
And even to get ahead
I had to be a child again
tasting child tears and
fighting child fears as
there was divine guidance
before me watching me
stumble then stand
And as my ego fell away
I humbled myself, all the
while giving praise and thanks
for my destiny and the
many blessings felt
along the way
I saw tangible things fall
away from me making
way for the more profound
and the Word wrapping
new power around me,
renewing my woman self
from past pain
I am a warrior-woman-child
dancing my path before God
sharing my presence and
inner visions felt with those
who cross my path
My pen as my warrior
healing sword, telling me
Go now this is your time
And to that, I say Amen
and Ashe