Poetry: I HAD ALMOST FORGOTTEN....

Its Black History Month
The clarion cry of
 Sizzla
singing "yes, you got to be
strong!"
brought me out of my reverie
I had been ensconced in a
fantasy fed by
Fela and Africa 70
by visions of the
Underground Railroad not just the Northern one but
the one
that snaked its way
south
to Mexico - the Egypt of the
Americas
the shadow of Aztec and
Mayan monuments offering shelter to
runaway, rebel an
raider alike

A world echoing with
chants
to the ancients kings
of Zimbabwe and
the Axumites -
thje world's original
globalits -
Who knew
even before Mansa Musa
that trade was the way
to wealth and
that the Earth held
the keys
to health
I'm lost in thoughts of
Boukman
who first made
Haitians
believe that they could be free
of Esteban and
henson
who combed the wilds of the
Far North
and the torrid desert South
of Haydyn
the musical "Moor" and St George
and Shirley the latter-day
symphonist
I'm preoccupied with the
history
of Black excellence throughout
the year