MY INSPIRATION

FROM THE BOOK BLACK VOICES I’VE FELT
WHAT W.E.B. DUBOIS CONSIDERED
THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK
I UNDERSTOOD THE TRIBUTARY
MADE BY MARGARETE WALKER’S
FOR MY PEOPLE
LEROI JONES BKA AMIRI BARAKA TOOTED HIS HORN
IN THE FUNK WORLD
COUNTEE CULLEN SHARED HIS INCIDENT
AND LANSTON HUGHES DID
A DREAM BOOGIE WHILE DEFERRING A DREAM
RALPH ELLISON INTRODUCED ME
TO AN INVISIBLE MAN
JAMES BALDWIN TOLD ME
TO LIFT MY VOICE AND SING
BECAUSE OF THE CREATION EXPOUNDED ON
BY JAMES WELDON JOHNSON
GWENDOLYN BROOKS LET ME KNOW
THAT IT WAS OKAY TO BE ME
SHE SAID……..“WE REAL COOL”
SO I ACQUAINTED MYSELF
WITH RICHARD WRIGHT’S NATIVE SON
WHO IN TURN
SHOWED ME WHAT CHINUA ACHEBE MEANT
WHEN HE SAID……….THINGS FALL APART
THAT’S WHEN IT HIT ME
LIKE MAYA ANGELOU………I TOO NOW KNOW
WHY THE CAGE BIRD SINGS
THESE GREAT WRITERS AND OTHERS LIKE THEM
INSPIRED ME
TO EXPLORE HIGHER AND GREATER DIMENSIONS
SO ALONG WITH JONATHAN
SWIFT I WAS ABLE
TO ACCOMPANY GULLIVER IN HIS TRAVELS
TO THE LAND OF THE LILLIPUTIANS
THAT’S WHERE I MET WILLIAM FAULKNER
DELIVERING A ROSE FOR EMILY
AND AT THE SAME TIME
GUSTAVE FLAUBERT
TOLD ME THE STORY OF MADAME BOVARY
AND AS I CONTINUED
MY LIFE’S JOURNEY
I WENT THROUGH THE CIRCULAR RUINS
WITH JORGE LUIS BORGES
THEN FOR A BRIEF MOMENT I PAUSED
PAUSED
TO HAVE A DRINK WITH ERNEST HEMMINGWAY
IN A CLEAN WELL LIGHTED PLACE
NOT TOO FAR
FROM AMY TAN’S JOY LUCK CLUB
AS A RESULT…I BECAME INSPIRED TO WRITE
SO WITH MY FLUTE DRUM AND PEN
I GIVE YOU A POET’S SONG
AND SOMEWHERE
WITHIN THE RUSTLING LEAVES YOU’LL FIND
THE COMMON PLACE
BUT SOON POETRY WAS NOT ENOUGH FOR ME
SO
AS I CONTINUED TRAVELING LIFE’S WINDING ROADS
I DECIDED TO KEEP WRITING AND WRITING
AND AS AN END RUSULT
I PRESENTED TO THE WORLD
JOHN DOE “THE MISSING LINK"