Poets speak truth into chaos. I count my Self among their number!

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our garden breethz[1]

our garden breethz

our garden breethz
rootz kracking konkrete, vinez

reklayming steel & stone. our children,

petalz playing, unfolding whispered prayerz
—ancestor naymz oyaz wind refuzez to forget.

poetz, sound shayperz, imagemaking artistz & artisanz,

 

activistz, & earthtenderz whose soiled handz &

rhythmik voycez, brushstroke keyz with gendered basslinez,

seedz & syllablz shayping tomorrowz language.

theybe spiritfolk,, wearing all kulurz,

persuazhunz percepshunz & lifestylez,

dancing between sun & shadow.

 

nativehandz karving futurez into wood.

afrikantungz koaxing frum earth her old songz.

muthr humz bak luving melorhythmz that

earthz children, we peepl,

 

plant together thewhat that must grow in

our garden & outlive us. we must

 

harvest justiss under baobab broad leavez,

storyz braided az river currentz. revolushun

smellz uv sage & rain.

 

ourpeepl live. listen. learn to luv.

our garden breethz.

 

[1] Co-created with Chat GPT. Image Canva generated.

 

New York native Kétu Oladuwa is the son of Carrie and John Taylor, Margaret Fisher and Tyrone Foster, and the student of Chief James Hawthorne Béy. Poetry discovered Kétu while on death row for a murder he did not commit. There he calibrated his Afrikan identity & wrote himself anew. With his Life Partner 36 years, he is the father of five. A BS in professional theatre grad of Fordham U, with an MSJ from the Medill School of Journalism, at Northwestern, Kétu blogs at https://rootfolks.com. With 8 self-published books since 2017, he founded Identity Counts Cultural Collective, RootFolks Poets Press, cofounded & produced A Big Apple Jazz Club Series, & Poetikz @ the Krossroads. For 382 days, during 2015-2016, at 70 years, Kétu traveled alone on a motorcycle to the US lower 48 states. Now 80, Kétu's developing a multicity poetry tour.

Comments

  • Jessica Lynn
    March 19, 2025

    Gorgeous imagery. A remembrance of sovereignty and sacred connection with one another and the land. Your poem awakens a deep knowing that we are of creation and not separate from it.

    reply

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