My nascent poetic tribute to black history month



more apropos and alternately titled:
praise to thee people
of variegated melanin color,
whose immense understated improvements
and enhancement
of webbed wide world
worth more than paltry words
of yours truly can communicate.

Though I yam spud during Caucasian,
tis rightful to honor that most bitter
racist genocidal crime,
nevertheless ovation qua
treated worse than pestilential critter
quintessential significant contribution
vis a vis that doth litter
anonymous multitudinous peoples
many unknown dark skinned souls
bravely fought as non quitter
with melanin so coon sitter
this asthma feeble attempt
made to mind of literate
parent, guardian or sitter
adorn aye rhythmically twitter

to Homo Sapiens with Negroid color
(please pardon any unintentional slight)
who, despite being human bondage
managed to adorn
worthy contributions to society,
though an American
(though not so proud
until death do me part)
and civilization since time immemorial
hence, I wanna pay poetic homage

to persons born
akin to diversity exemplifying gamut
analogous to Indian (Jimmy crack) corn
debased brutally and forlorn
and raised in cornucopia horn
of plenty with rare serf tenderness
whipped by wicked task masters
from the crack of morn,
whipped, pummeled, beaten...
courtesy Jim Crow whose dignity shorn
aye cannot fathom why

a great proportion of humanity
must struggle on scraps of subsistence
viz with fifty plus shades of chocolate
vile shamefully opprobrious sworn
vengeance toward those
via heroic efforts escaped,   
manacled, tortured, et cetera history
as slaves an existence
until...pacified family dislocated
sans rent asunder, ripped and torn.

Once a proud family akin to Brady
bunch, now brutally, nasty
and short lived poorly destitute
(case in point) like Haiti -
once a nation extant with cultural finery
insidiously raped pink "Lady"
lacerated odiously robbing
unique peoples as owners didst slay
practically naked "Primates"

encaged like wild animals in zoos
culturally robbed while
abhorrently marched in ones and twos
shredded souls without shoes
(analogous to persecuted Jews)
of singular ambition to break shackles
fielding exorbitant dues,
through tightly fused
linkedin manacles to life as they choose.

This just one example of many peoples
UNFAIRLY subjected
to subservience and exempt
from enjoying the fruits of their labor.

January twelfth two thousand and ten
original date this communique writ then
kept wedged where in no wise
bore visual witness
vis a vis near annihilation and destruction
of African, Haitian,
South American, et cetera nations
whereby countless/ nameless individuals

e’en the strongest Herculean type men
crushed by humungous slabs of
building facades practically
demolishing every creation
since this island settled, which
indigenous tribes sought safety  
in any geologic den
seeking solace and salvation
from wrath of nature
by paying obeisance via oblation
perhaps giving credence to clear water
in tandem with rooster and hen
that laid a golden egg

and chicken thing, especially
as encroaching savages
affected violation
particularly when Europeans
foisted forfeiture of land
with primitive implement like pen
no matter that travesty,
trickery, mockery,
et cetera wrought humiliation
pleading invaders to forsake
such actions that rent asunder
culture beseeched god when
these hashtagged brutish, nasty
and (shortish) Hobbesian simians
to cease desecration,

yet the peoples of this dominion rose
from the ashes like the phoenix like bird
no mattered genetic pool underwent
white washing from scouring influx
from western thumping proselytizers,
which alien beliefs hard
to swallow like curd
basically bribery (with lustrous trinkets)
ah those coveted legal tender
upon emancipation
proclamation cessation
to sell men, women and
for x amount of bucks

akin to the soundcloud
winged fowl clucks
foisted/ forced the
unpleasant alternative
(wanton slaughter) to be clearly heard,
yet within the very fiber of tropical
mangrove persons patiently
lined up their ducks
and declared as one of the first
African American peoples
INDEPENDENCE to be the word
whence adulation, elation,
inspiration echoing
across ramshackle greensward.

About this poem

a broad figurative brush stroke describing the grave tragedy regarding people of color forced from their African environment.

Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Written on January 23, 2023

Submitted by harris40tude on January 23, 2023

Modified on March 14, 2023

3:23 min read
2

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDXXXX ECXXCECFXCCGHCC CXXIJEXXBX IHIIIKXIEIX JLHIMXJLNI JJXJJJOXX PXPPPFPXP FNGC QQXKEERF QXJEXJQECECQX JXERXQJJEXCQJDE MSXTDXSXCEEXT ATXXSBJTXFSEOA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 4,201
Words 675
Stanzas 13
Stanza Lengths 8, 15, 10, 11, 10, 9, 9, 4, 8, 13, 15, 13, 14

matthew harris

Ever since birth (mine) three plus score two years since January 13th, 2023, yours truly made his unheralded debut into webbed world. Born in sin - ha, (albeit Cincinnati, Ohio), he came unknowingly, neurologically, and congenitally genetically begat afflicted what would manifest and only recently diagnosed as mental health issue definitively with malady called schizoid personality. Every waking day (particularly as I entered public school within Lower Providence Montgomery County, Pennsylvania), a befuddled, dazed, frenzied... emotional wracked undersize lightweight body, which diminutive height in tandem with being lightweight) offered ideal scapegoat sacrifice to bullies galore, who verbally chastised, insulted, unrelentingly voiced wicked names. Nsync with puny physique, one distressed little boy (i.e. me) christened Matthew Scott Harris experienced wretched vitriolic jibes leveled smack dab at severe nasal twang courtesy submucous cleft palate, otherwise known as split uvula. more…

All matthew harris poems | matthew harris Books

1 fan

Discuss the poem My nascent poetic tribute to black history month with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "My nascent poetic tribute to black history month" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/150701/my-nascent-poetic-tribute-to-black-history-month>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    April 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    11
    days
    5
    hours
    4
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    "If ever two were one, then surely we."
    A Hilda Doolittle
    B Anne Sexton
    C Anne Bradstreet
    D Sylvia Plath