R & B MEMORIES
By Olumide Ted Wilson,
A hallway filled w/sound
brimming w/ rhythms
chock full of notions ideas
A hallway giving echoes
voices bouncing back and forth
coming at you
from you
sounds of projects and tenement hallways
Exploding the painful suffering
joys too
memories of merciless pounding
a history of inhumane treatment not long past
A history of distance where
laughter and pleasure rise
and take their rightful place
for a fleeting moment
Through all this a drum banged
It is/was the essence of existence
the vehicle/vessel carrying...
even within the flighty sounds
and airiness of the flute
you could hear in the drum-- a beat of...
so old the whiskers had split
hairs so familiar and modern as
today & slickest tune or shirt
it holds together like no other
at the bottom of life
there is/was
and it seems to be forever
We are who we are where
ever we are and thus
there is a river of hope
a struggle of music
rhythm coming from the drum--
a beat only the soul can create and
forever it will flow
north to east south to west
reverse horizontal and diagonal too
the drum beats
in any direction you face
in any direction you look
in any direction you hear
every which way you can fathom
and continues to flow
carrying notions ideas visions
audio plasma you see
feel touch and form
like the river
From Imhotep to Jesus
Chaka to Dessalines
Garvey to Muhammad
Moremi to Sojourner
Nzingha to Fannie Lou
Lumumba to Malcolm
Esteban to Fidel
Monroe Trotter to W.E.B.D.
from Old Freddie to Martin King
is there not royalty in this rhythm
From Ma Rainey to Lady Day
Bessie to Aretha
Carter Woodson to Bird
Chano Pozo to Monk
Coleman Hawkins to David Murray
can’t you hear them singing in the hallway
Need more?
George Carver to Dr. Kokayi
Paul Robeson to Stevie Wonder
Akhenaten to Zumbi
Jose Marti to Pancho Villa
The Struggle Continues
La Luta Continua
Congoleros to Cuban Paleros
Ife -Ile to Oyatunji Village
The drum--a beat—to a river flow
in a hallway filled w/sounds
chock full of notions ideas
A hallway giving echoes
voices bouncing back and forth
a resounding of the condition
history future
history future
suffering struggle
suffering struggle
pain hope
pain hope
voices bouncing re-sounding
pain hope
voices bouncing back and forth
history suffering
future hope
echoes resounding all around you
north to east south to west
struggle hope
back and forth echoes bouncing
west to north south to east
history future
history future
history future
history future future
future hope
future hope
future VICTORY
By Olumide Ted Wilson,
A hallway filled w/sound
brimming w/ rhythms
chock full of notions ideas
A hallway giving echoes
voices bouncing back and forth
coming at you
from you
sounds of projects and tenement hallways
Exploding the painful suffering
joys too
memories of merciless pounding
a history of inhumane treatment not long past
A history of distance where
laughter and pleasure rise
and take their rightful place
for a fleeting moment
Through all this a drum banged
It is/was the essence of existence
the vehicle/vessel carrying...
even within the flighty sounds
and airiness of the flute
you could hear in the drum-- a beat of...
so old the whiskers had split
hairs so familiar and modern as
today & slickest tune or shirt
it holds together like no other
at the bottom of life
there is/was
and it seems to be forever
We are who we are where
ever we are and thus
there is a river of hope
a struggle of music
rhythm coming from the drum--
a beat only the soul can create and
forever it will flow
north to east south to west
reverse horizontal and diagonal too
the drum beats
in any direction you face
in any direction you look
in any direction you hear
every which way you can fathom
and continues to flow
carrying notions ideas visions
audio plasma you see
feel touch and form
like the river
From Imhotep to Jesus
Chaka to Dessalines
Garvey to Muhammad
Moremi to Sojourner
Nzingha to Fannie Lou
Lumumba to Malcolm
Esteban to Fidel
Monroe Trotter to W.E.B.D.
from Old Freddie to Martin King
is there not royalty in this rhythm
From Ma Rainey to Lady Day
Bessie to Aretha
Carter Woodson to Bird
Chano Pozo to Monk
Coleman Hawkins to David Murray
can’t you hear them singing in the hallway
Need more?
George Carver to Dr. Kokayi
Paul Robeson to Stevie Wonder
Akhenaten to Zumbi
Jose Marti to Pancho Villa
The Struggle Continues
La Luta Continua
Congoleros to Cuban Paleros
Ife -Ile to Oyatunji Village
The drum--a beat—to a river flow
in a hallway filled w/sounds
chock full of notions ideas
A hallway giving echoes
voices bouncing back and forth
a resounding of the condition
history future
history future
suffering struggle
suffering struggle
pain hope
pain hope
voices bouncing re-sounding
pain hope
voices bouncing back and forth
history suffering
future hope
echoes resounding all around you
north to east south to west
struggle hope
back and forth echoes bouncing
west to north south to east
history future
history future
history future
history future future
future hope
future hope
future VICTORY
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