Some of My Favorites (April is Poetry Month) (Poetry Corner)

So, it is April and this month is known as National Poetry Month. Last year I shared with you some of my works. You can read that post HERE. This year, I will tell you about some of my favorites works from others.

Full Figured Potential by Ga Me (Georgia Me)
I probably would be a Spoken Artist if it was not for the fact that I hate reading in front of people. Reading and Praying out loud are the only parts of public speaking that make me stutter. Now reciting what I memorize or talking from the top of my head, I can do. And for some reason I don't memorize me own stuff. That's why I leave that field to people like this talented lady in the clip above. I love this poem.

Ego-Tripping (there may be a reason) by Nikki Giovanni 
Blame the show A Different World for introducing me to this gem. The descriptive tones are so powerful.

I was born in the Congo
I walked to the Fertile Crescent and built
The Sphinx
I designed a pyramid so tough that a star
That only glows every one hundred years falls
Into the center giving divine perfect light
I am bad

I sat on the throne
Drinking nectar with Allah
I got hot and sent an ice age to Europe
To cool my thirst
My oldest daughter is Nefertiti
The tears from my birth pains
Created the Nile
I am a beautiful woman

I gazed on the forest and burned
Out the Sahara desert
With a packet of goat's meat
And a change of clothes
I crossed it in two hours
I am a gazelle so swift
So swift you can't catch me

For a birthday present when he was three
I gave my son Hannibal an elephant
He gave me Rome for mother's day
My strength flows ever on

My son Noah built New/Ark and
I stood proudly at the helm
As we sailed on a soft summer day
I turned myself into myself and was
Jesus
Men intone my loving name
All praises All praises
I am the one who would save

I sowed diamonds in my backyard
My bowels deliver uranium
The filings from my fingernails are
Semi-precious jewels
On a trip north
I caught a cold and blew
My nose giving oil to the Arab world
I am so hip even my errors are correct
I sailed west to reach east and had to round off
The earth as I went
The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid
Across three continents

I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal
I cannot be comprehended except by my permission

I mean...I...can fly
Like a bird in the sky

We Wear the Mask by Paul L. Dunbar
My Elementary School was named after him so we learned a lot of his poems. Sad to say we still have to "wear the mask, sometimes

We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.


Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
          We wear the mask.


We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.

We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
          We wear the mask!

Oh! The Places You’ll Go! By Dr. Suess
Many of us heard this one as children but it was not until I was an Adult that I really felt the words.

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

So, those are some of my favorites. What are your favorites? Leave them in the comment box below.

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms