Paige+Gbasie

"For something to be poetic and for it to be poetry are two different things." - Me "A poet's autobiography is his poetry. Anything else is just a footnote. " - Yevgeny Yevtushenko

Memory Poem Its was kindergarten And I was ready to go I wore a red jersey dress Oh, this was 2000 Sadly, my front teeth had yet to come back but, It was kindergarten No judgments, no funny looks Just play, read books, and struggle to sit quietly It should be easy enough It was kindergarten
 * Kindergarten**

I was dressed and prepped with my new supplies Supplies exciting me with that //brand new// smell Me and my mom walked through our North Philadelphia neighborhood, Where some consider it to be hell, Down the 3 live blocks Blocks alive with the sound of children All so similar but yet unfamiliar to me And all heading the same way

Of them all there was one One that bellowed greater than the rest Her light skin and weird shaped eyes I can still remember

She didn’t wanna go And she was fighting Fighting like the geese by a pond; Surprisingly well

Kids just weren’t ready to let go They’d rather rebel It bothered me; it upset me The rebelling I mean, it was kindergarten.

Ode It wasn't a gift, It wasn't a pardon of appreciation, I bought it.. I bought it from the chicos down at the corner store It'll be awhile before I buy anymore
 * Ode to my Blistex**

Maybe It's cause of how long the amount last Or maybe it's cause of those cases; Such a pain in my ass If your blistex drops there's no telling whether it'll be pretty When it drops, it cracks There's no time to relax and think about a replacement

But this time it's different When it hit, //it cracked// //It cracked all around// Yet, the top was still holding on when I got it from the ground; Still able to transfom my lizard lips into silky snakes Do I wanna replace this? No

Riff poem_quoted lines taken from "Why I Love You" by Shanelle Gabriel “I like Jay-Z”; “You're a die hard Nas fan” With your cardigan sweaters n my checker board vans In society we’d never match but “as opposites, we attract” We’re the only ones who’s got our backs That’s why I don’t understand y you’ve packed
 * Ready to go**

I “love you, like Whitney loves crack”! Ha…

But seriously, Where are you going? You’re the force pumping my heart If you couldn’t tell that from the start then u got it right; Our relationship’s a rap “And, truth be told, that romantic crap”… it “usually doesn't last” long Which is why I’m guessing you’re so fast to get you bags huh? What? //Our// bags? Where we goin’? Do u understand that there’s snow n… I don’t like the cold We should go somewhere where the sun’s rays kiss my body along with yours Is that what you had in store? Your parents house? //Was that this weekend?//

Sonnet poem A chance like this comes a dime a dozen I got the hook up from this guy named slim Well actually, he’s my 1st cousin We call him slim but his real name is Jim He stole a TV from a K-mart store He even hooked it up with free cable And guess who was the girl he got it for... Me, yes me; it sits on my living room table
 * I’m Innocent**

Detective, I know you think that I’d lie What me and my cousin did wasn’t right Your questioning me makes me want to cry It seems like I’ll be staying here tonight

You’ve got to believe what I have to say Don’t just shut this door and then walk away

When thinking about myself as a poet I feel like I suck. I think that poems always need to rhyme somewhere inside of them, that’s a problem. When I think of poetry I think how well poets get their poems to flow and their flow helps their listeners or the readers feel what they’re portraying. I’m not too good at completing that task; my poetry is unstructured and my language seems to never be on point.
 * Analysis of my own poetry**

In my poems I tend to continue with whatever topic comes to my mind. Within my riff poem I began with the quote “I like Jay-Z; you're a die hard Nas fan” from a poem by Shanelle Gabriel. When I read this line from her poem the first time, what came to my mind was that she and the guy she’d been talking about were total opposites. My thinking this way made me base my next couple of lines on that. More into my writing I didn’t want my poem to be predicting. I changed up the situations from the two lovers being different with “In society we’d never match but as opposites, we attract”, to it seeming like he was leaving and then finally she’s wrong about the whole situation and everything happens to normal. Everything turns out normal, unlike my poems, they sometimes even surprise me.

Amiri Baraka // "Crow Jane, Crow Jane, don't hold your head so high, You realize, baby, you got to lay down and die // --Mississippi Joe Williams

**Fresh Zombies**

O K Shuffles. Stink in neon Lie in lights. Betray before millions Assassinate w/ slogans. Not old toms but New Toms, Double Toms A Tom Tom Macoute. Fresh Zombies. House Nigger maniacs. Oreo serial killers That thumping, that horrible sound, is not music, not drums, but shuffling Not old toms, New Toms, Double Toms A Tom Tom Macoute. Fresh Zombies.

** Ancient Music ** The main thing to be against is //Death!// Everything Else is a Chump!


 * Wise I **

//WHYS (Nobody Knows The Trouble I Seen)// Traditional

If you ever find yourself, some where lost and surrounded by enemies who won't let you speak in your own language who destroy your statues & instruments, who ban your omm bomm ba boom then you are in trouble deep trouble they ban your own boom ba boom you in deep deep trouble

humph!

probably take you several hundred years to get out!

Poet Analysis The poet I chose to do a detailed study on was on Amiri Baraka. He is and African American author, poet, artist, and activist who was born in Newark, NJ during 1934. Amiri has a unique way of doing his poetry. He writes about the African American culture and the politics of America. When analyzing his work I noticed his poems are never alike; the structures, specific topics, and the languages of his poems all change.

Amiri usually writes in somewhat of a code; he never just come right out and says what he means. Something in his poems always has a meaning; in his poem __Ancient Music__ he only says “The main thing to be against is //Death!// Everything Else is a Chump!” In those few short lines he seems to only make a random statement but if you think a bout it for a while he means more. He's an activist and he tends to speak his mind on topics like race, politics, history, and society so what I got out of this was that he was telling people to not be afraid when they want to do something, the only thing to fear is death. Another thing I noticed about his poems, including this one, is that at times the titles of his poems don’t match with the content of his poems and that the forms that he writes his poems in fit the poems topic. For example in another one of his poems called __Fresh Zombies__ is structured in a totally different way than the one above. OK Shuffles. Stink in neon Lie in lights. Betray before millions Assassinate w/ slogans. Not old toms but New Toms, Double Toms A Tom Tom Macoute. Fresh Zombies. House Nigger maniacs. Oreo serial killers That thumping, that horrible sound, is not music, not drums, but shuffling Not old toms, New Toms, Double Toms A Tom Tom Macoute. Fresh Zombies.

Amiri Baraka seems to have strong feelings toward certain races. From his poem __Who Blew Up America__ he sounds angry within his poetry, saying things like “Who tell the lies; Who in disguise; Who had the slaves” and “Who is not a nigger”, feeling like white people keep black people down. He writes with strong feelings about what backs have gone through in the past, and he is not always commended for his work. In my opinion he should always be commended for what he says even if it’s vulgar or he doesn’t make you feel too good; the truth isn’t always pretty.