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APRIL, 1978
TIIK I.ITERArn VOICE
I iVeefi....
She wore her sexiest dress
but i was not impressed
As the prism in the sky that catches your
eye
qives promise of a pot of gold and the
rainbow’s end
yet never delivers
so it is with pretty qirls.
qood looks do not make a good woman.
Pretty girls live in self serving worlds
turning on their axis
as if the laws of planetary motion hold no
truth for them,
revolving around their own selfish
desires.
If she were the sun
she'd shine on but one, herself.
So I said no thanks
I need someone warm and kind
I need someone soft and caring,
someone who brings to me thoughts of
the Garden of Eden
innocence and simplicity pure love.
Often times I succumb fo conceit,
I need someone who unconsciously
causes me twinges of pain
when I submit to my weaknesses and
show myself to be vain.
I need someone who teaches by
example,
someone who is willing to share
the ability to love and care with one
who's never been there.
I need a simple woman
to help me become a simple man
free of pretension, devoid of false airs.
I need the girl I left behind for a prettier
one.
Jeffrey Melvin
For Someone
Special
they are as old as creation
honeyed sweetness encases their
movements
their utterings, their comings and their
goings
like cotton candy and caramel apples at
the fair
there's a limit on the amount of sac
charine one body can stand
these dainty, sugared personality
lovelies
give me a stomachache.
for beneath the qutercore of feigned
sweetness
often lies a true inner shell of practiced
bitterness
the cruelest rebutt can be delivered with
a Baby Ruth smile,
yet there are some men who would
gobble them up
were you to kiss the knife that ravaged
your heart
you'd discover that the blade had been
soaked in chocolate
for this is the picture they present to the
world
their subtle malevolence nutured in
glucose
Candy Coated she devils bestowed with
feminine wiles
syrupy smiles, honeyed speech, nougat
skin
the essence of hypocrisy these sweet
things
they make a study of never meaning
what they say.
you're not that type youu frankness is
sometime offensive
your sincerity bursts forth like a shotgun
blast
I sometimes retreat, finger for wounds
and convalesce
when I'm with you I see all of me, my
faults, my virtues
i know when I'm right and when I'm
wrong
which is not lo say that you are hard as
nails
but that the things that attract me to you
can't be seen at first glance nor by
chance
you know who you are and you are
pleased
your attractions are full and lasting
they rise from the profondest depths of
your soul.
Jeffrey Melvin
r Got Lost
I used to sign my letters
with peace, power, and liberation
at the age of twelve,
I was a manchild in the promised land.
Free Che. Free Angela. Free Huey P,
Those wore the cries that freed me.
My sister would call me her young
warrior
1 was proud, arrogant, bitter. Black
I got the news from my Black brothers
at a tender age.
I read Cleaver, Brown, Carmichael,
Fanon
I knew who the wretched of the Earth
were,
the devils never tricked me,
not for one moment.
I was happiest during the struggle
I cried for my sisters
I planned to die for my children
but there weren't enough of us
the bravest died at the hands of the
Federal Bureau of instigation
the youngest like me cried
And I slowly lost my revolutionary mind
I traded my liberation shirts for Nik
Niks
My 'fro was given way to a duck tail
I make my sisters suffer
and even my friends think me to be a
pretty boy
at the ripe age of 22,
I'm a disaffected veteran
Sister, I never sold out
I simply got lost
waiting for the shit to hit the fan.
Jeffrey Melvin
Bluesy
Days
the soft sound of mournful strings
recalled from some obscure, once heard
symphony
the weary link of fired, smoky eyes
the slow walk of some doomed, beaten
warrior
these things are so foreign to me,
it's not often the blues seize me.
As the moon goes, so goes the Cancer
child
phases, crescents, quarters, high and
low tides
there will be somber days, tit my face
fills
with the glow and ripeness of the full
moon
stepped in a puddle and got mud on my
corduroy shoes
lick's a lady they say, well, she's an evil
bitch today
I'm calling you for comfort, you always
soothe me
you send a smile right through the
telephone line
through the static, and crackle good
vibrations flow
thoughts of you brighten me before you
say hello
bluesy days are what friends and lovers
are for
Jeffrey Melvin
The Sexes
All you men wear English Leather
Or they wear nothing at all
As the World Turns The Young and the
Restless
Search for Tomorrow by the Guiding
Light
The things you know about love and life
You owe to CBS, ABC, or NBC, the
networks
And what is the net result -shallowness.
You are so shallow, looking into your
soul
is like looking into a drained pool, blue
green emptiness
what of the battle of the sexes
We read of women's lib, and changing
women's roles
but prime time never stops sending the
messages
that have plagued us all since the fall
from the garden
everyone knows how a man treats a
woman
but can you tell me why he treats her
that way.
No, I won't neglect the other side
You don't know satisfaction
Always looking for a piece of the action
you expect her lo be a cover girl
A Noxzema beauty, her attractions store
bought
and her conversation and movements
TV taught
You want a real woman because you're
a real man.
Veiled sentiments, hooded eyes,
shadowed smiles
You're as real as the Six Million Dollar
Man
What's the end result-You're
Mechanical also.
Jeffrey Melvin
Ain’t JVo
Change
Your feet still get blistered
from long hours of heavy toil,
calloused hands still warm choice pieces
for the white man's table, as in days of
old
when black babies wailed as they sucked
on empty black breasts
drained by some chubby cracker baby,
sore, irritated, painful black nipples
trying to give nourishment to howling
black babies
'cause the price of milk is too high
tired brown eyes still shamed by the
witnessing
of the degradation and stifling of black
manhood
the story remains the same, there ain't
no change
oh, yea there's a George cracker in the
White House
but black folks still in the po' house
and black women still leading the
struggle
cause the eyes of cracker America are
always on
big, strong, blackmen who speak of
liberation
mothers, sister been carrying the
weight
for centuries, and there ain't no change.
Here is a kiss and a prayer for black
women of the ages
my pride, my rage is because of your toil
black mothers still sacrificing for their
children
words like Lily White and Jim Crow still
have meaning
the masters may have gone to cracker
heaven
but they will always be crackers to take
their places,
do not put away your guns, don't soften
the hating smiles
there will still be a need to off crackers
in their sleep
we must if our dead mothers are to have
eternal peace
the revolution goes on, there ain't no
change
freedom for my sister's babies
and the most sincere heart fell thanks to
my liberators
black women of the ages
Jeffrey Melvin
!fty Time Has
Come Today
Fitter patter, the rain falls
and the squirrels chatter
but little does it matter
my time has come today
memories of yesterdays-
crimson days on the Cay
the turquoise waters of
Nassau cleansing me
old friends getting together
for one last meeting
looking back, reluctant to
think of the future
mellow mood-passing time
will give way to neglect and
tomorrow,
all things change, the color of
my hair,
the intensity of my stare, of
this I am aware
yet for now strike up the band,
let the music play
gonna have a good time come
what may
my time has come today.
To the melancholy wail of the
blues my ears are mute
A week of toil gives way to
pleasure’s pursuit
the pied piper of fun blows his
enchanting flute
your time has come today he
says
summer sky-the sun shining
on bare shoulders
turning pale girls golden
brown
their radiant smiles catching
my roving eye
time flies as the springtime
rushes by
May days-dancing the last
rites of spring
June approaches and young
lovers head to the altar
my birthday nears, my
commitment to freedom
does not falter
so I say strike up the band let
the music play
gonna have a good time come
what may
My time has come today.
Jeffrey Melvin
Together
(For Us)
I hope that our meeting will be
a new beginning.
I am part of you.
I am real, baby.
But what is reality?
With you it’s only a new
beginning towards that
special bond that keeps us
together.
Togetherness Fs the chain that
bounds us willingly.
For I am not the world and our
destiny is in the hands of
love and hope.
But Time does not stop for
those who will it.
But for those who wish it in
their hearts.
Time would gladly bow down.
On my return, I hope there’s a
place in your heart for me.
Cupid with his arrow so
straight and sure,
the sting that burns like fire,
has it hit our hearts,
filling us with a forbidden
passion of love?
The more the flame is covered
up,
the hotter it burns.
For no one else in all the world
could make me feel this way
or take your place in my
heart each moment of the
day.
This timeless day.
But if I have my way and the
time is right,
we’ll ditch our chains and flee,
together in the passionate
midnight.
Together.
Joseph Julian Gordor
Memories
Ousting winds and driving
rain cut paths through the
trees
Sending the madly swaying
limbs thrashing against my
window
I look through the window into
the angel hair clouds
Anticipating the gay arch of a
fresh rainbow that isn’t
there
anymore, it appeared to be a
day-glo colorwheel passing
time
bringing about seasonal
changes falling leaves
silvered with rain
dance in the rhythmic wind as
they flitter past an almost
forgotten
moment comes to mind
Springtime on the banks of the
Potomac
April rains spraying pink
cherry blossoms with glitter
You and I holding hands
engaged in animated
conversation
You wanted to play tag in
West Potomac Park
I wanted to take on a reefer,
we compromised
You ran about pretending to
climb a rainbow
While I stood under a cherry
blossom and got high
You said the trees were
singing a Joni Mjtchell song
I threw petals in your hair and
kissed raindrops on your
forehead
The shadows of early evening
crept down and engulfed the
park
I thought of the ancients
sacrificing vestal virgins to
the river god
We looked into that dark,
dark, murky, mercury
enladened flow
and I thought, “This is my last
moment alone with her”
Dead fish encrusted with
slimy algae washed upon
the shore
their sudden intrusion into our
lover’s garden sobers me
I’m going away, leaving love
behind, returning home
the rushing waters seemed to
be wailing, I heard a dirge
guilt wedged through our
intimacy, gaiety seemed
profane amidst the loss
I made mental notes of' the
silent way the shadows of
doubt and despair
bogarted their way into our
last moment
I etched a picture into my
subconscious of soft beauty
of your face
mellowed by the wistful
sadness in your eyes
Too late for anymore
romance, no time to dine,
dance and love
Love cannot be everlasting
but written words can be
eternal
These lines, free of rhyme and
meter commemorate you
Your role in my life was
unique, a love that never
died
You and I, Karen we were the
victims of circumstance
Today years past and never
having loved again, I sit
sipping banana brandy
from a long, tall Looney Tune
glass
Searching for a rainbow from
the past.
Jeffrey Melvin
Warning Bell Searching
Disaster seldom strikes without warning
gray skies telegraph the forecoming
storm,
there's an eerie silence prior to the
loudest
clap of thunder.
You sense home long before it comes
into sight
love Js like that
it rarely sneaks upon you
you feel it coming on
Time to circle up the wagons
A chance to make a last stand
last opportunity to hold on to your heart
if you fear love.
Jeffrey Melvin
For Someone
You Love
You took my hand just as you
led me to believe that it was
me you loved
Convincing me that it was I,
the lady of your dreams
Different from all the other
sisters that you’ve had past
relationships with
Holding me close everytime
you needed to feel the
warmness of my touch.
I was in total body and soul
with you
Given up all that I ever had
just to be your lady,
Not searching a day further
for a new face
For it was with you I knew I
had all a girl could have and
ask for.
You filled my empty soul with
so much joy, love and the
most beautiful days of my
life.
With you I felt the women in
me strong.
Who hollered out, “He’s one
hell of a Man.”
I fed my love to you through
the palm of my hands
I have you a whole life of
happiness,
I gave you me, which was
more than love itself.
For it was with you that I
found gratitude of love and
happiness
Though all we’ve been
through together
Love itself has been misled
Lady Cancer
Reflection
introspection
on the outside looking in at myself
retreating
semi isolation
without love, desolation
spinning a cocoon around me
self appraisal
temporarily placing my dreams in a jar
searching for a light unto myself
and when I'm through
there'll be no need to crawl
no longer a caterpillar
out of the loneliness will emerge c»
butterfly
a beautiful butterfly with great, glorious
multicolored wings,
A collector's edition eluding all pur
suers, free as the wind
Jeffrey Melvin
O/V SPAJ\KtJ\GS
by Fred Schubert
Yesterday during my last
period of English class, we
were talking about a poem by
some guy, I forgot who, but
anyway right in the middle of
the class I started recalling
some of the spankings I had
received during my grade
school days. I remember how
my old man would get all
wound up when I did
something wrong and the next
thing I knew my butt was
smoking. Those thoughts
weren’t too pleasant, but then
I remembered one time at
school, me and some other
kids were playing catch right
in front of the principal’s
office during recess.
Just that morning, after
the Star Spangled Banner had
played and we said our pledge
of allegiance to the flag, the
principal came over the p.a,
system, I recall hearing his
deep, heavy set, voice, “From
the day forth, it is against the
rules to play ball between the
school buildings. We have a
baseball field and that is
where we will play ball.” The
principal’s office had lots of
windows. I bet he could see the
whole school from his deep,
soft, heavy swivel chair. As
we were happily throwing the
ball back and forth, out comes
this huge monster yelling at us
skinny little kids.