Kwame Alexander

 

AUSTIN, TEXAS

i
would
Climb
The hills of Mt. Bonnell at dawn blindfolded
Swim
the Colorado at noon ..........barebottomed and
Dance
a poet's salsa at midnight ..........barefoot
along the pavement
Of your soul
To get closer to this poem
to that fresh air music
of people coming
and going
in Austin, Texas

 

KUPENDA

Lips like yours
ought to be worshipped

See, i ain't never been
too religious
but you can baptize me

anytime

 

HAIKU
for miles & indigo

if your ancestors
could build pyramids then your
dreams are but mild stones

 

LIFE
for Professor Derrick Bell

This morning
I woke to find
termites
eating away at
my home...
my friends
assured me that
the good
liberal ones
were not involved

 

COREPOEM
(The Beginning)

The grasp of the earth
and the softness of the wind
were most definitely something
but not until i witnessed
the journey of a
thousand waves
through the rippling waters
of your ocean
did i understand the true
meaning of
gravity



 

 

Kwame Alexander is a publisher, playwright, editor, producer, and author of Kupenda: Love Poems. A graduate of Virginia Tech, he has published four books, and most recently wrote and produced the stageplay, "The Seventh Son." Alexander is also the owner of BlackWords, Inc., a publishing company founded in 1995.

Published in Volume 2, Number 1, Winter 2001.

 

Read more by this author:
Alexander's Tribute to Langston Hughes: The Memorial Issue
Alexander's Introduction to Vol. 8, No. 2: The Science of Love
Kwame Alexander: Tenth Anniversary Issue