The Grace of a Black Man

How I marvel at you
The divine folding into the divine
Quick, before I miss you!
Wash and wear hair
Pop and go joy
But slow cooked tenderness
Is what you give our children
The silent shadow
And act
And shadow and act
Of Ellison
The serenades of academia’s silent shades of you
scarlet prarades of you
I bid adieu?
Can’t seem to measure it ‘cause you’re too big
For words
Each step ordained and ordered
Each breath struggling for life
The roads you walked so that I wouldn’t have to
And the remix is sticking to our fresh white K-swiss
Sticking to our minds like cooked okra
Sticking to our songs like a good long note
Hoping to find a place in the sun