Happy Friday!!

From Above

When it is a warm time
     in the evening
and my people are
     laughing
and warm
beside me,
it almost feels
I can fly.
Above the city and
     everything
I know.
--And I am happy in
     the coolness
as I am in the warmth,
because I can fly as
free as I feel
and watch my people
with love
from
above.
                  
                Angela Johnson

The Reason I Like Chocolate

The Reason I Like Chocolate

The reason I like chocolate
is I can lick my fingers
and nobody tells me I'm not polite

I especially like scary movies
'cause I can snuggle with Mommy
or my big sister and they don't laugh

I like to cry sometimes 'cause
everybody says "what's the matter
don't cry"

and I like books
for all those reasons
but mostly 'cause they just make me 
happy

and I really like
to be happy

                             Nikki Giovanni

The Moses of Her People

Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman didn't take no stuff
Wasn't scared of nothing neither
Didn't come in this world to be no slave
And wasn't going to stay one either

"Farewell!" she sang to her friends one night
She was might sad to leave 'em
But she ran away that dark, hot night
Ran looking for her freedom

She ran to the woods and she ran through the woods
With the slave catchers right behind her
And she kept on going till she got to the North
Where those mean men couldn't find her

Nineteen times she went back South
To get three hundred others
She ran for her freedom nineteen times
To save Black sisters and brothers
Harriet Tubman didn't take no stuff
Wasn't scared of nothing neither
Didn't come in this world to be no slave
And didn't stay one either

      And didn't stay one either

 Eloise Greenfield

Listen to the poem here:

Thelma the Storyteller        

I Can

I Can

I can

be anything

I can

do anything

I can

think

anything

big

or tall

OR

high or low

W I D E 

or narrow

fast or slow

because I 

CAN

                                          and

I 

WANT

              TO!

               

                 Mari Evans

Gone Fishing...

To Catch a Fish

It takes more than a wish
to catch a fish
you take a hook
you add the bait
you concentrate
and then you wait
you wait    you wait
but not a bite
the fish don't have 
an appetite
so tell them what
good bait you've got
and how your bait
can hit the spot
this works a whole
lot better than
a wish
if you really
want to catch
a fish

                  Eloise Greenfield 

I Love The Sea

I Love the Sea

I love the sea! the rippling sea,
The ebbing, smiling, sunlit sea,
Hiding a world of mystery,
     Like you and me!

I love the sea! the placid sea,
The sleeping, glassy, silent sea.
Dreaming on long eternity,
      Like you and me!

I love the sea! the heaving sea,
The mighty, moontost, angry sea,
Fretting from bondage to be free
     Like you and me!

                            Alfred M. Cruikshank

Another Mountain

Another Mountain

Sometimes there's another mountain
that I must climb
even after I've climbed one already
But my legs are tired now
and my arms need a rest
my mind is too weary now
But I must climb before the storm comes
before the earth rocks
and an avalanche of clouds buries me
and smothers my soul
And so I prepare myself for another climb
Another Mountain
and tell myself it is nothing
it is just some more dirt and stone
and every now and then I should reach
another plateau and enjoy the view
of the trees and flowers below
And I am young enough to climb
and strong enough to make it to any top
You see the wind has warned me
about settling too long
about peace without struggle
The wind has warned me
and taught me how to fly
But my wings only work
After I've climbed a mountain

                                   Abiodun Oyewole

Two Poems By Black Poets

By Myself

When I'm by myself
And I close my eyes
I'm a twin
I'm a dimple in a chin
I'm a room full of toys
I'm a squeaky noise
I'm a gospel song
I'm a gong
I'm a leaf turning red
I'm a loaf of brown bread
I'm a whatever I want to be
And when I open my eyes
What I care to be
Is me
                     Eloise Greenfield


Harlem

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
Like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
Like a heavy load.

Or does it just explode?

                              Langston Hughes

What Have You Been Wondering Lately?

I Wonder

I wonder how it would feel
If I 
Could walk on the ceiling
Like a fly--
Or instead of sleeping
Stetched out flat
Slept upside down
Like a bat.
I wonder how I would look
If I
Had bright, colored wings
Like a butterfly--
Or instead of having
A short little nose,
Like an elephant's trunk,
Mine touched my toes.

                                                Laura Arlon

Home

We have all been spending lots of time in and around our homes.  This poem looks at what makes the place you live a home.

A House, A Home

What is a house?
   It's brick and stone
   and wood that's hard.
   Some window glass
   and perhaps a yard.
   It's eaves and chimneys
   and tile floors
   and stucco and roof
   and lots of doors.

What is a home?
   It's loving and family
   and doing for others.
   It's brothers and sisters
   and fathers and mothers.
   It's unselfish acts
   and kindly sharing
   and showing your loved ones
   you're always caring.
                                       
                                               Lorraine M. Halli

What does home mean to you?