Poetry
By Sina McClendon
POETRY IS…
…as diversified as the individuals who write it…an open picture into a mans soul…a mixture of broken dreams, aspirations and the desire to share with others…Poetry IS…expressing your feelings without constraints upon your imagination…Poetry IS…art, in which you use words to color life instead of paints…Poetry IS…sounds…culture…dreams…loneliness…loving…Poetry IS the casual movement of the mind rehearsing with the changing of each coming year…
POETRY IS…
…a calling of sages…and mans shallow stream of minds…that long to comfort others in a meditated form…
These words…these are the words that flow through some of the most prolific poets that the penal system has ever held hostage. Only…they could not hold their thoughts. Poetry IS…and always will BE. One can never be more open than when they allow their own spirit the freedom to create them. Some paint… some draw…some build…some write…I…write…and it is perhaps the most liberating feeling when you don’t know what is going to come but it just…comes. I amaze even myself sometimes. This, I believe, is the stuff that Poetry is made of.
April is National Poetry Month, a month-long celebration designed to increase the visibility of poetry and poets in our culture. In honor of National Poetry Month, the NaPoWriMo 30/30 will begin on April 1, 2013. Poets all across the social media network will begin writing, posting and sharing their words, one for each day in April, hence the term, 30/30 (30 in 30 days). For the past 2 years since I found out this was happening, I have been witness to some of the most prolific poets and prophets around….from their love to their loss to their lives…and the lies and the liberties won and lost…their attitudes and reflections…death and resurrection…in short… their Awesomeness.
There are a group of poets I have coined “The Heads of State”. These BlackBloods are the founders of my lost spirit who have fed my addiction to writing and words with their awesome artistry as WordSmiths. Ngoma Hill, Frederick-Douglas Knowles II, Deenah Stone, Iyaba Ibo Mandingo, Olusanya Bey (I’m gonna marry his mind, fornicate with his pen and give birth to some awesome stuff!), Leah Prescott, Isis Bey, Jamaal St. John, Osunyoyin Alake, just to name a few! They have given light to darkness and darkened stuff we take lightly…Their love of life and truth has made me lust after their words. Seek them out on Facebook, Twitter, anywhere you are…there they shall be!
In honor of this upcoming month, I give to you my previous tributes to these awesome poets. Look for the 30/30 Poets during National Poetry Month. Read a poem, write a poem, share a poem…embrace a poet!
