Simple Answers (for Mutulu Shakur)

My daughter asked me

Why your face lined

The perimeter of my wall

And I told her that

Because too many choose to forget

I had to over-remember to compensate

I explained that your fate

Was directly in line with mine

And since I wasn’t yet ready to die

That I had to save you

I had to secure your rescue

Told her that the Ancestors demand

That I do not misuse this tool

Said I’ve been given a gift

So use it to uplift and liberate

Demand that I spit spells encoded in poems

Until they open the gates

And all of our warriors are set free to come home


See, the longer you’re away

The harder is for me to breathe

So I get down on bended knee

Light a candle

Offer water

Cast cowries

And say a prayer

Then spirit appears

I see your face

And then my father’s

Now my brother’s

I am standing

Full moon belly

Now I’m bleeding

Blood is everywhere

Forced abortion

Fetus snatched from womb

Walls turn grey

Then metal bars

In walks guards – smiling

Then message appears

“Welcome! We’re glad you’re here!”

Things get real clear

And it all starts to make sense

They’ve reinstituted slavery

And these prisons are the slave ships

We the hoes

And they the pimps

And we turn tricks

To get that next fix

Of middle class suburban denial

All the while

They stock pile our warriors

Transport them across state lines and borders

Where they’re forced to build

New world orders

Making products for companies like

Mickey D’s

And we believe our hardest decision to be

Big Mac with or without the cheese

And they incarcerate our babies

In state prisons at the age of 14

And they pull strings

Attached to rappers

Who demean our women

Through music they use to transfuse

Willie Lynch agenda

Send her

To the club

Drop the beat

She’ll drop it like it’s hot

Be too distracted to notice

They’ve got

Her son

Face down on concrete

With gun to head

His fate in their hands


A poet asked me

Why your name is always

On the tip of my tongue when I speak

And I tell him

Because I’m loosing sleep

My dreams are tormenting me

And I wake up sore

For training

Constantly

Swinging machete across metal chains

Refusing to let us be re-enslaved

I’ve engraved your name

On the tip of my tongue

So that every time I open my mouth

I sing freedom songs so sweet

That they lull the masses

Awake from sleep and

Crush their rose colored glasses

And I ask him

Isn’t it fantastic

That I speak the magic

Language of liberation

At open mics all across this nation

When too few are still willing to do it

When too few are still willing to pursue

Slave captors

And kill them bastards

Stand their ground

Refusing to ever call them master


My lover asked me

Why I never come to bed early

But instead

Click keys on computer keyboards

Posting Myspace bulletins

And I smile

And then explain

That this is not a game

And that I will forever take a vow of celibacy

Before I place my people second to sex

Told him that I was married to the struggle

And since I was a faithful wife

I spent my nights

Giving birth to beautiful black babies

Posed as bold letter bulletins…

ATTENTION: PIGS GONE WILD IN ATLANTA!

POETS 4 POLITICAL PRISONERS @ MOREHOUSE COLLEGE!

CALL 2 ACTION: COMMUNITY DEMAND JUSTICE FOR RON PETTAWAY

And I make it clear

That if he can’t find a way

To stay focused

On burning down plantations

Then there was no hope for us

Told him that I could never trust

The love of a man

Who couldn’t stand on his feet

And make the decision

Not to abort the mission

So, if he wants kisses and hugs

Then he’d better get up

And get it on

Because Revolution

Now that’s what’s sexy

It’s what excites me

It’s what makes me

Want to get freaky

So that it’s me and my scent on his mind

While he stands on front line

To help remind him

What he’s fighting for


So, if you get this letter

And you’re wondering

Why I write

It’s because you incited a riot

In the soul of a 20 year old

Black girl teaching political education

In a public library

You are what inspired me

To become a revolutionary

And while some believe

Your greatest contribution

Was being Tupac’s father

I believe the greatest honor

Is being able to call myself

One of your daughters

And if I can’t secure your freedom

In this lifetime

Then I would gladly become your mother

Make love to your legacy

And give birth to the next generation

Of Mutulu Shakurs

This I swear and place on the shrine

Of my Ancestors

I will not rest until the belly of this beast

Is sliced open and you’re removed

WE WILL WIN – WE CANNOT LOOSE

Because I love you!