I Am That We May Be
Illustration of book cover drawn by me
The poems that I have posted the past couple of weeks were first published in 1974 in my book of poetry, I Am That We May Be. I used the Swahili name, Damali, which meant a beautiful vision, explained in my introduction: “Poems are visions to be shared for the creation of our tomorrow. . .”
The book was published by Third World Press, Chicago, as part of The First Poet Series, being my first – and only – published book of poetry, so far. The favorable comments I’ve received for the poems posted have given me confidence in my abilities as a poet. Here are two more poems from that book.
That We May Be
In accordance with the natural laws of harmony, man dropped the solitude existence of “I” and found the ever changing perfection of “WE.” (painted on a wall on 14th Street, between Euclid and Fairmont, NW, Washington, DC)
Let us
Remove
the shields from our eyes
that we may see our sameness.
Release
our clenched fists
that we may join hands and create.
Open
our closed ears
that we may hear the other’s song.
For our peoplehood will never rise
Until
We find
the strength within the other.
Let Us
Discover
the meaning of Family
That We May Be.
The Calm
Quite
Rays of the sun
filter through piled clouds
like light reflected
from cut prisms.
Silence
The gray cloud
crawls
across the pied sky
like a huge spider
inching its way
quickly
against the white
motionless whispers
and the blue
Hush
Wow! What a title! You’re very creative! Your love and knowledge of countries in Africa (I love Swahili!) endears you even more to me. I’ll comment comment on each poem since they seem to have different themes.
The first is a simple descriptive poem in which abstract terms (in this regard) like “shields,” “closed” bear resonate so strongly, giving so much meaning to the lines. Each stanza provides a particular stroke of the brush different from the first and yet so true! I love the ending so much! I see why you picked the poem’s title to be the title of your book.
The second poem reflects the mind of a keen observer; a word weaver who points her readers to one of nature’s splendor. I like to the use of “quiet (I believe that’s what you meant),” “silence,” “hush.” And how they were made to stand alone.
Thanks for explaining why you like the poems, I may ask to use your comments sometime in the future when I republish these poems.
Sorry I’m late. I’ve been struggling with malaria fever. To your question…
Yes. Please feel free.
Love the structures you developed with each verse/stanza, single words and then the depth they contain within each context, their motion and momentum at each thought and visual embrace, formation in time..
Thank you Sean for the time you spend to carefully read and poetically comment on my work.
Love the feelings of both your poems. You are very sensitive and it shows in your works. Love it!!
Thanks.