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All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means written, electronic or mechanical, including recording or photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author. Exception is made for the inclusion of brief quotations in an article or review with attribution given and author’s permission.

Scripture quotations marked KJV taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

“Nne Muru Oha” first appeared in Urban Cusp Online Magazine

ISBN (softcover): 978-0692207314

ISBN (ebook): 978-0-9905791-0-6

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014907504

Published by WordsBuildDreams, LLC

Website: http://www.wordsbuilddreams.org

Email: info@wordsbuilddreams.org

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Book Design by Jill Ronsley, suneditwrite.com

Printed and bound in the United States of America

For Daddy

Nna n’ututu k’iganu olum
K’ona arigo n’elu

This book is inspired by all those who have
been a part of the evolution—
the catalysts, the change-makers,
and (of course) the lovers. Spread love.

Contents

Preface

I In the beginning …

Instructions for a Poetic Score in C minor

Adanne

Thick-Skinned

Body Parts

Pleasantries

Diet-Crazed

Someone Knows My Name

Hi, Daddy

Siblings

Comparative Suffering

Create Space

About Isolation

The Everybody Committee

Slave Masters

II It is not death I fear …

Thoughts

The Greatest of These

A Widow’s Prayer

T.S. (1971-1996)

Until

Slaughterhouse Blues

Foggy Bottom

Over-Medicated

Therapy Sessions

Wake-Keeping

What Mourning Is

Pedestals

Connecting

Walk on Water

Amnesty

ReCreation

III So I fight …

The Evolution of a Saint

Humility

Poetry in Limbo

For Ms. Sabrina’s Girls (Morning Devotion)

This Is for You (On the First Day)

On the Eighth Day

Antebellum

The Revolution

WarSpeak

I AM

The New Poor

For Papa John, Father James, Uncle Ben and Mr. Jefferson (a.k.a. Sally’s Man)

Nne Muru Oha

Beyond the Cross

On Religion

To Be Continued …

Acknowledgments

Preface

Sometimes evolution happens so quickly that we miss it. Other times, it is so gradual that out of shear boredom we miss the moment when change becomes irreversible and there is no turning back. Those are the moments when miracles happen—where some of our greatest lessons are learned. The title of this book comes from one of those gradual evolutionary experiences that I almost missed—not out of boredom, but out of fear. Whatever it is we face in this life, how we address it speaks to where we are in our own evolution. May the words within these pages inspire you to be present in your evolution and always learning in your life-journey. Peace and blessings to you.

—Chisaraokwu

“In the beginning was the Word …”
John 1:1, KJV

Instructions for a Poetic Score in C minor

for piano solo

Piano Lover,

Try your hands upon

The ivory keys

And let them dance

A clairvoyant symphony:

Delicate, nimble

Invitingly simple,

The story of my life

In the key of C.

Master of 88 Keys,

Won’t you play the mystery of me—

But when you play it,

Do so in the key of C?

Begin with a seventh

—the number of my completeness—

Then choose a ninth

to show my imperfection.

Finesse it with a dissonant minor,

though the major chord of my life

may object.

I want the sound of the unfinished

looming in the atmosphere,

anticipating what’s next …

Adanne

Being the first has its privileges,

But it comes with a price.

“Make sure your siblings

Are doing alright.…

They look up to you, you know.”

Sometimes caught in the middle

Of being a child

and being chief-boss;

Sometimes respected,

Other times not.

The first of many:

Trailblazer!

Praised!

Adored—

“You set a good example, Nne.”

Who wouldn’t want to wear the crown

That adorns the first daughter,

Unless, of course,

You’re the first-born son …

But that’s another poem for another time.

Thick-Skinned

All black people

Are born into this world

With pale, mottled skin

But give us a day or two

Or three

And the color will come

And that’s when

The skin-thickening process

Begins …

’Cause you have to be thick-skinned

To live in a society

Where your own brothers

Figure it’s their right

To call you too light

Too dark

High-yella

A waste of color

Mocha

Caramel

Butterscotch

Or red-boned

And think it’s a compliment

And mean it as an insult

Instead of just calling you

“Beautiful.”

Body Parts

Aren’t you sick and tired

Of being reduced to disenfranchised,

Disengaged,

Disadvantaged body parts

To satisfy

unenlightened philosophies

About what selfish men need

And what their hormones cannot control?

Are we not more than apple-bottom jean

Double-D wearing caricatures

Of impossible to replicate

24/7 digitalized fantasies

In stereo, surround sound and HDTV?

They reject the body of our work—

As life-givers!

As nation-rulers!

As consciousness-raisers!