For Dr. Maya Angelou
Illuminated triangle crowned by the sun
The call of this road soft as a mother’s voice
Awaken to the living river of this road
Don’t confuse poison for sugar on this road
Get lost just to be saved on this road
Dance for your testimony on this road
Be On The Battlefield on this road
Use this path to step into your greatness
Be casually brave on this road
Stay fierce in your faith on this road
Tell the truth till Glory Hallelujah on this road
Step into your courage
Bolster your spirit
Know your Divinity
On the tongue that lifts faith above chaos
On the hands that built cradles when caskets were requested
On the pyramids, on the pyres, on the pulse of this new day
Know your Divinity
In the sanctuaries
In the sickrooms
In the gardens
In the office of politics
On the borders, in the matrix
Know your Divinity
In the bordellos with backroom nurseries
In the family reunions behind every prison wall
Know your elegance
Know your voice
Know your heart is not meant for storage
Know if they call for rifles someone must still bring bread
Know that last night something was said
And right at that moment, a man a woman was healed
–––
Between the president and the mendicant
Between silk and steel conjoined above the fire
Between the tongue’s knife and the lover’s caress
Burns the Blues (of every hue)
The call to freedom on this road
The feathery touch of love on this road
The rituals on this road
The forgiveness on this road
Praise the Spirituals hanging like fruit above this road
that fills our mouths
yet remain whole & sweet for eternity
From Black Steel Magnolias In the Hour of Chaos Theory. Copyright © 2018 by James Cagney. Published by Nomadic Press. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.