youthful ease and vitality that sits on the edge
of a sword like the poet of many words
Gil Scott Hero who told the world
"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"
Gator the Poetman
squeezes concrete poems up from his toesto his heart to his mouth
defining himself
noveling his cryptic life
as he spin, spin, spin on
a one wheel bike
held up by the earth he inherited
From sea to shining sea
Oh say can you see me now?
he said I can't jump off the wheel
I was born to take this ride
I was born to write like a relevant poet
 |
| Chris "Gator" Ockletree |
somebody said he couldn't untwist
his legs and mind
long enough to walk the
Straight and Narrow
road of prosperity and productiveness
somebody said he could do no good
not this bushy-headed
afro-wearing doomed kid
a mixed up African American
boy who slipped out of his
mother's wayward womb
with defensive words on his lips
he cried in verse not baby tears
no rehearsal was necessary
his mama knew he came into
a promised land that she didn't
know how to take advantage of
American the beautiful
Oh say can you see
Me?
the poet's promised land was
a personalized pen name
and listed number
hand delivered seconds
after he saw life's light
Oh beautiful
the spacious sky is cloudy
the novice poet is
name branded forever
Oh beautiful
America didn't celebrate his
birth or encourage the future of his words
proned and propped to sting their flesh
like busy ants in a promised land
Oh say can you see that society
made no bets that he
would find his way out of
nine months of wondering in
a fogged forest
barren of trees
and sprouting limbs
the poet-in-residence took control
untwisting his legs
walking the straight and narrow
untwisted his mind to think long and wide
denying destiny its victory over him
society didn't bet his only weapon
would be the written word
granting him freedom
to walk in high steps
tagged by rebel rousing poems
that defy single minded definitions
copyrighted by dorothy charles banks
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