Seasonal Spirit

December 2019

#132

 

Horror Is A Drag, But Beauty In Heroes Lives On

Passing and arising through the garden of memories of an unsung hero
Brother Cornbread Givens was a bright, shining star
Born in Jersey City in that sickness in the Depression of the 1930s
By the age of 13, he once said, “that I grew so sick of being poor that I cried
That the next generation will never have to live in pain.”
But real history starts when consciousness awakens your heart.
When contradictions surround you, you must move forward
Cornbread joined the service at the age of 15 and saw the theater of war
In the South Pacific
The eagle flies from a distant voice
And he returned home to rejoice with his family
Crossing the next river again, he created a home repair renovation business
And later started the New Frontier Political Democratic Club
And ran for mayor in 1965 and he came in fifth place
Later he formed the Poverty Organization for the Rehabilitation of the Poor
After a long march, in which Dr Martin Luther King declared on December 4 of 1967
The Poor People’s Campaign was born
A shining moment for the people to unite
While we were dancing boogaloo at that time
The heart rose into the soul
The light was shining when
Dr Martin Luther King met and spoke with Brother Cornbread
In a reunion of leaders
King asked him to join the Poor People’s Campaign
And was appointed the coordinator of the Harlem PPC
The headquarters was at the Armory of the 369th at 142nd Street and Fifth Avenue
As the Poor People’s Embassy
Our voices now could sing
So when the thunder of the dragon slayed Martin Luther King in springtime
The Earth opened in a bitter battle of those who have been hurt
Against the forces of evil
Brother Cornbread once said, that you could organize for black power or brown power or yellow power or green power
But when you start working and organizing for Poor People’s Power
Your days are numbered because that’s revolution
As I remember the Northern Caravan of the Poor People’s Campaign
We gathered at 142nd Street and Seventh Avenue
500 strong, beautiful and bad and proud marching down Seventh Avenue
with beautiful banners of ending hunger and ending poverty
the people shared in the stoops and from their windows
as we turned at 116th Street and Seventh Avenue
With a big picture of Martin Luther King
We were now marching toward 116th Street and Third Avenue
Where we would meet the Puerto Rican Contingent of the Poor People’s Campaign
We jumped on board the buses toward Washington, DC
Resurrection City – we created Resurrection City, a City of Hope,
Like a moment of joy
And after 1968, he later formed the Poor People’s Development Foundation
And the Farm Cooperative,
which brought fruit and vegetables to Newark and Harlem
He stood and always advocated for cooperative economics for Poor People’s Power
Because this is human power
On the 40th anniversary of the Poor People’s Campaign and Resurrection City
In Washington, DC, at the National Mall,
Brother Cornbread became an ancestor on that same day
That heroes live on forever and not monsters

© Carlos Raúl Dufflar April 4, 2008
(The Bread is Rising Poetry Collective)

 

The Circle Of Life

We all begin to watch the festive season on TV
Cinemas no doubt, although I don’t these days
Being a vulnerable person, most of the time indoors
TV brings the Christmas season alive
Brings joy into your heart
At least I think so
When I think back to the past
When I was a teenager, a young adult, a young middle aged person
I know I have always loved Christmas
Then I know, even though the preparation is great,
It’s over as quick as it arrives
And then the Spring comes
Some warmer weather and the thought of Easter
Which will arrive quickly, just as Christmas does
Now it’s Boxing Day, time again to relax before normality begins...
Then the circle of human life will begin again...

(C) Josie Lawson 25/12/2019 All Rights Reserved
(GROW)

 

Two Days Til Christmas

2000 - to nearly 2020
Wow! Where does the time go?
Cannot believe it can you?
In that time
So much has taken place
I’m a grandmother from before 2000
and just after
But now a great Grandmother
How many more families have grown
I wonder?
I still love Christmas
Although I’m getting old
Got to face it I guess
It’s a fact!

(C) Josie Lawson 23/12/2019 All Rights Reserved
GROW

 

It Is Christmas

Time to remember
Charles Dickens stories
Way back in the 1800s
Christmas spirits
They love to make themselves known
Poverty well seen
In those days long ago
Seasonal spirits
The rattling of chains
Ghosts come visiting
Frightening the people they visit
But the fear so great
The seasonal spirit awakes
And the joy then appears
Bringing forth happiness
And food in abundance
Laughter and forgiveness
They leave behind them
The stories for the future
Year by year, the ghosts fade
Back into their graves
To be seen - no more

(C) Josie Lawson 19/12/2019 All Rights Reserved
GROW

 

Hoy Gozando Y Celebrando El Nacimiento De Vicentico Valdés
100 Años de Espíritu y Clima

Cuando el sol brilla cada día de mi vida
Yo me recuerdo una gran memoria de mi juventud
Con un grupo de nosotros del Barrio fueron al Palacio de Hunts Point
Cuando Vicentico Valdés canto el bolero “Palabra de Una Rosa”
Entre todos los corazones y todo bailamos más alto en alegría “Vamos p’al monte”
Un gran éxito de Vicentico Valdés o de raices de la isla de Cuba
La palma real asere
Pa’cantar es pa’vivir y pa’vivir es pa’gozar ritmo de bembé
En el Río de Aquahong y el so, vamos recorder la memoria del pasado el alegría
Con un cortado y dulce de capuchino
La luz de cada día entre la luna
Y Victor Hernández Cruz, un poema pa’toda la vida me recuerdo de mi juventud
Sobre los corazones y así la montaña mis palabras
Celebrando el cumpleaños de los sagitarios 70 años desde la tierra
Chévere
Leocadia Álvarez, ella Baker, Vicentico Valdés, Carlos Raúl Dufflar y Pedro Carlos Dufflar
Y qué bueno es que tengo este poema como una rosa roja que la gloria es tú

Today Enjoying And Celebrating The Birth Of Vicentico Valdés
100 Years of Spirit and Weather

When the sun shines every day of my life
I remember a great memory of my youth
When a group of us from the Barrio went to the Hunts Point Palace
When Vicentico Valdés sang the bolero “Palabra de Una Rosa”
Between all hearts and everything we dance higher in joy "Vamos p’al monte"
A great success of Vicentico Valdés the roots of the island of Cuba
The royal palm asere
To-sing is to-live and to-live is to-enjoy bembé rhythms
On the Aquahong River and the sun, let's remember the memory of the past of joy
With a cortado and a sweet cappuchino
The light of each day between the moon
And Victor Hernández Cruz, a poem for life reminds me of my youth
Over the hearts and thus the mountain my words
Celebrating the birthday of the Sagittarians 70 years from the Earth
Cool
Leocadia Álvarez, Ella Baker, Vicentico Valdés, Carlos Raúl Dufflar and Pedro Carlos Dufflar
And how good it is that I have this poem as a red rose that the glory is you

© Carlos Raúl Dufflar 12/14/19
The Bread is Rising Poetry Collective