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Dear Maya Angelou

from Nhojj Poetry Vol. 2 by Nhojj

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michael mcdonald
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In the beginning, I asked “how can I embed poems with inspiration?” Maya Angelou gave the answer.

She uses the simplest of words in a manner all her own, pouring and mixing idioms, stirring and shaking our common language, into sweet spirits for the soul.

God bless her always..

lyrics

I was searching for an  
Avenue... 
A lane I could live on...  
Some grain I could bid on...  
Help balance this world’s  
Protons neutrons and electrons... a
Place with a vegetable garden and a 
Library where words, scribbled on  
Love’s parchment paper could feel at  
home... 

I’d been writing  
Letters to myself 
Postcards from my soul 
Mailed from my ancestors sequestered in other realms 
Finer and almost perpendicular to this one 
Spirits communing nightly 
Poetry 
Falling like rain 
Eyelids closed, my body slept 
On this parched bed of earth 
Dreaming and coaxing new things to  
Grow and sprout and blossom  

Climb the steeple  
Ring the bell  
Water the soil 
Cultivate and propagate and   
Feed the people cause  
People need people  
  
In this memory 
I walk along main street  
With its church and courthouse  
Sneak behind alley side street 
Exposed rear ends... buildings  
Lifting skirts and dropping trousers 
To display their garbage cans banging  
Filling the atmosphere with misery, stench and reality tv 
I jump the fence and skip 
Downtown on the D train  
Crowded, loud, and noisy 
Sponsoring banks and bars and drinks 
Intoxicating  
Intoxicated  
I stumble back uptown  
To parks and penthouses  

I woke up  
In your drive way 
One rainy day 

You opened the gate 
Lined with ancient trees 
Skin wrinkled like bark and trunks  
Wide enough to fit a house  
Wooden dresser and comb  
I liked the scent of your home  
Purple lilac and lace 
God bless this place 
Surrounded by  
Honey shrubs and hickory buds 

In the flower garden 
I sipped Ajiri tea 
Leaves hand-picked 
Farmers in Kenya 
There I underwent a transformation  

Wisdom of the ages 
Wisdom of the sages 
Huddled together  
Gathered round the center  
Mystic call of the drum   
Spark Fire Wood Metal Earth Water  
Sacred daughter  
Radiant sun 
Author  
Love  
Lift us higher... alter 
Light warm form 
1 circle  
One globe 
Limbs hugging one another 
Giving strength to aid each other 

Divine harmony 
Songs sailing into the night 
Meditating under the stars 
Mars Jupiter and the  
Moon full  

Teacher preacher  
Poetess prophet 
Storyteller 
Wisdom dweller 
Healer 
Seeing the world... not as she is 
But as he could be 
They them us 
Together  
One hand clasping another  
Hand assisting another  
Hand on another hand  
Washing dishes in the sink  
Weathering yet another storm  
Together   
Moments are forever  

My channel hope found  
I tuned in daily  
Your radio station nourished 
Marquee words reading  
“What you get, give...” 
Blinking on and off and on 

Miss Maya  
You taught me 
Reach down reach up reach out  
Stretch and be your best self 
No need to change clothes to go down the road...  
Come as you are and your family will love you 

Thank you  
Dr. Maya Angelou 
Phenomenal woman 
Caged bird singing loudly 
Proudly 
Still I rise 

I pray today 
With grace and hope 
I too, until the day I return to clay will say  
Simply 
Good morning

credits

from Nhojj Poetry Vol. 2, track released February 17, 2018
Written & performed by Nhojj

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Nhojj Orlando, Florida

Singer/songwriter and poet wading through the rivers of R&B, soul, jazz, and reggae.

My intention is to create sonic spaces where you can experience yourself through the lens of love and acceptance.

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