The Click Song 10/30

Mrs.Makeba

You made brown skin
so desirable
as a little redbone girl
I was fascinated by your beauty
your complexion

The undeniable fact
of your blackness
your African cheeks
nose and chin
your language
fitting your features
African
I never had that
never looked black
always could have been mixed

second language
was spanish

In Johannesburg  
where you were born
where all the children
carry african names
and blood
and features
like you

some called me black
because of my locs
only thing that saved me
the natural kinck in my hair
unloc’d
would have
guaranteed me colored

Mama Africa
your politics
lived past your years
you survived
apartheid and
exile

your songs
brilliantly
inspired
generations

your smile
can light up any stage
every room 

is easily filled with your voice
Miriam
you were Africa
to a redbone American girl
fascinated
by the Xhosa language
the click song played at my wedding

and I was a young girl
getting married
and i found it fitting
that you would be there .

Comments

  1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnMAdy1czko&list=PLFE08254889191FA2&index=5&feature=plpp_video

    ReplyDelete
  2. cool, smart poem. an ode to ethnicity, and how we all
    should luxe in our uniqueness.

    ReplyDelete

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