Poem: "Black Boy, Black Girl" from Lalibela Collection

[Regina Shepherd]

Please enjoy this poem, "Black Boy, Black Girl" from my collection, Lalibela:

 

 

Black Boy, Black Girl

 

A Black Boy

         Black Girl

So Black

So effervescent

That they marvel truly the privilege of life.

 

So Black that they will stand in showers

         under sun and sweat

       in church

       at the park

Sitting in class

         on their bedroom floor

and wonder at their fearfully dimensions

each breath, novel

         the way only children can.

Truly Black that

My breast must ambition to speak kind,

         ripe, Black, questioning and an answer.

 

 

Black Boy Black Girl

         So Black So light!

                                 They have no right to your eternities.

With skin that turns like milk

You be the flower, Black boy, Little Black girl

         that opens the way butter

                     moves.

 

So life So life

Baby Black Boy Baby Black Girl:

 

         Did you know about sunrays?

                     All the ways your arms and legs

                     and back and breastbone

                     connoisseured the sun?

         The way they chew the sunlight?

 

 

Little Black Girl

         Dainty and Nubia

         Ethiopia and all,

 

                     There will be none the visitor

                                 worthy of your terrain. None the palms deserving of your soil.

How the stars people your eye light

like freckles.

 

Little Black Boy

         Adroit and Abyssinian

         New flower and sky,

 

                     Do sandy dunes mimic your wealthy?

                                 The Nile and plains your disposition

                                             and ways?

 

Corroborate the wonder

         that make atop each moment

                     my hope anew.

 

Black skin glowing

         glowed and shone.

 

Our history tell of your children

         of all the ways you rightfully

                     incline.

 

Black girl Black boy

         So life

         So bursting

So star                  So shine

         So whole

                    

So all                   So all

                                

                                             Remember to edify prayers

                                 before the dusk, “how do you do’s…”

                     Prayerful and song.

                                 New flower and soil.

                                                         Abyssinian and all.

 

 

Get your copy now on am*zon and be sure to leave a Customer Review/Rating!

[Troy]

Well, the building on the covers looks like one of NYCHA's projects.  Thanks for sharing the book here.

[Regina Shepherd]

Yes, that is spot on! Thank you for engaging.

 

I took this photograph at Parkside Houses, where I was born and raised. It was my old stomping ground for quite some time before I went away to school. Using this photo as the cover, at that angle, reminded me of the rock hewn churches at a town in Ethiopia named Lalibela, named after the Ethiopian monarch with the same name. These grounds at Parkside are sacred in my own little world and are sort of a haven for me, like I'm sure is the case for folks in Ethiopia with the churches in Lalibela. Not to mention, the neighborhood is the backdrop for a lot of the pieces included in the work so I thought it was appropriate to use the photo as I saw the work having parallels with its namesake in Ethiopia.

 

I appreciate the community and look forward to sharing and engaging more!