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Anything by Saul Williams, but especially "Sha Clack Clack."
Here is a poem I wrote:
i’m not that type of poet
i don’t know much about coltrane
and i wasn’t reared on mingus
my belongings were put in storage
and sold
mom’s vinyl became a myth
and then
i suddenly understood that we were poor
so no
i don’t know much about billie holiday
i’m not that type of poet
i was born at the ass end of the seventies
all i remember is reagan and bush
no rainbow/push
all i knew was gimme
my mommy wasn’t a reformed hippie
just a low-rung buppie
a guppy trying to evolve in a pool of sharks
and here i was, a skinny good-haired
young buck
i didn’t give a fuck
until nineteen eighty six
when i was seven
and jesse was ten and in heaven
so i don’t know oppression;
i make that confession because
i’m not that type of poet
my father was not my daddy, but a bother
and my mother dated a parade of brothers
for me to aspire beyond, because they’re gone
and she is still dateless, but not desperate
still, if you’d like a talented and bright
Georgetown educated stepson
i can hook you up with mom’s cell after i’m done
no matter, i am a child of the eighties
victim of nothing but reaganomical circumstance
i did not live in harlem through the renaissance
i did not live in harlem through the black arts movement
i do not live in harlem;
i’m not that type of poet
i am not the harbinger of the new wave
but i ride on it
i am the atavistic son of soul
not quite embittered by poverty
not having to struggle as much as my forefathers
but fighting different battles
the media powers that be have named it
“America’s New War”
and i thought hey, they’re talking about me
but i tuned in and saw bombs over kabul
dan rather wasn’t crying because he thought
it was mad cool that i was doing that poetry thing
i’m just trying to keep my head above water
reaching for the top, standing on other people’s shoulders
trying to move love jones boulders
and slam America into a new consciousness
so am i that type of poet?
the type that say what he wanna and
do what he wanna
and write all day long about whatever he wanna
not trying to be nobody but me
and striving to be the best one of those
trying to break the mold
welcome to the next generation of soul
because i’m that type of poet
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