IT'S YOUR MUG ANNIVERSARY ISSUE Toni Blackman   DINNER CONVERSATIONS for my friend tshalo in kinshasa the lights come and go like the rain/it can be fast dangerous for some as mother nature quenches the thirst of the earth a walk through Bandal left mud between my toes today’s work left me both tired and refreshed packing my luggage for departure provided a sense of satisfaction fulfilled and free/i am sitting near the window one small white candle burns the electricity is gone but the power remains he said to learn to ask the right questions be serious about your God trust you are where you are supposed to be he said many things i say as his soul shines in my direction my heart smiles i give thanks for chance meetings in strange lands IS THIS LOVE unable to out-dance my sapphire tongue he rubbed his goatee like a magic lamp wishing for a strong comeback seconds later he retorted ‘that’s why i’m glad my mama wasn’t black’ my hand instinctively covering my mouth i held it there as a reminder/he is not my enemy just some angry intellectual bi-racial brother who yearns for an understanding of his identity a prideful lion with a fierce need to know more he also needed to be more/know more than you his perception twisted/i knew my words were sharper but his humbled me to a state of surrender with no desire to verbally castrate him i walked in silence he walked in discomfort clear he had crossed the line he knew i let him beat me but he also knew that he didn’t win     GLOBAL WARMING the only true order is that of the divine man can’t fly but he wanna’ rule the sky sings nya the glaciers are melting in bolivia the people bathe in and drink coca cola the elderly are walking slowly toward the afterlife clinching to this existence so that their prayers for the earth might be answered so their grandchildren might sleep full bellied thirsts quenched offerings are made to the sky fires burn like the heat residing in the hearts of the young dreamers who so want the promise of life to feel ok to be happy but wonder if this is simply too much to ask     EXCERPTS FROM INNER-COURSE spell #1 i tried to write a poem about your eyes but you kept staring at me spell #3 touching your heart i move closer wondering what the rest of you feels like i quit loving you felt like a job with no perks no benefits no vacation please accept this letter of resignation   Toni Blackman is a poet, rap lyricist and actress. She was the first Hip Hop artist selected to work as a Cultural Ambassador traveling with the US Department of State. Toni has traveled throughout Africa, Europe, and Southeast Asia, often working in some of the world's most war-torn nation-states to help bring reconciliation and rehabilitation to those regions. Highly respected as the founder of Freestyle Union, a cipher workshop that uses freestyling as a tool to encourage social responsibility, she runs Lyrical Embassy and Rhyme Like A Girl, a initiative solely for girls and women. A former Echoing Green Fellow and Soros Fellow, her work promotes diplomacy and self-expression through the use of cutting-edge personal development techniques. Her book Inner-Course is available on her website: http://www.toniblackman.com.   Published in Volume 10:2, Spring 2009.