Love Poems by Marvin X

Marvin X: America's Rumi, Plato, Hafiz, Saadi

 

  

Ishmael Reed calls him "Plato teaching on the streets of Oakland." Bob Holman says,  "He is the USA's Rumi!--the wisdom of Saadi, the ecstasy of Hafiz." Rudolph Lewis says, "A master teacher in many fields of thought. One of America's great story tellers. I'd put him ahead of Mark Twain!" James G. Spady writes, "When you listen to Tupac Shakur, E-40, Too Short, Master P or any other rappers out of the Bay Area of Cali, think of Marvin X. He laid the foundation and gave us the language to express black male urban experiences in a lyrical way."

 

The Rapture or I will go into the city 

(from the play In the Name of Love, Laney College Theatre, 1981, written, produced and directed by Marvin X, with the assistance of Ayodele Nzinga.

I will go into the city
I will find work
I will find work
I will remember you country woman
I will not forget you
your laugh arguments
to learn
it is your way
let it be
how can I forget your lips
enchanting smile
I will not forget
we walked in the rain
it was free and we were free
we agreed
best of life is free

I will go into the city
I will find work
but you will be with me country woman
when those city women come to devour me
with sweet perfume
you will be there
you spirit will protect me

I will never forget
how we sipped $1.00 Margaritas
in the Mexican Cafe in Chinatown

our ride to the lake
picnic on the hill
ranger spotted us in his binoculars
we did not care
we were filled
with the Holy Spirit of Love

how can I forget
hours in bed
children of the love spirit
one moment
man and woman one
discovered missing self
eternal self
self of love
self of joy
self of happiness realized

I will go into the city
I will find work
I will not forget you country woman

I will return to claim you
in the name of Love
I will claim you
because you woman
I will claim you
you are feeling spirit intelligence
I will claim you
you have given yourself to me
so totally
I will claim you
in the name of Allah
I will claim you
for the Glory of Allah
I will claim you.
--Marvin X
from Selected Poems by Marvin X, 1979.

For the Women by Marvin X

Women Writers Panel at Black Arts Movement 50th Anniversary Celebration, Laney College, Oakland, Feb. 7, 2015. L to R: Elaine Brown, Halifu Osumare, Judy Juanita, Portia Anderson, Kujichagulia, Aries Jordan. Standing: Marvin X, BAM producer
photo South Park Kenny Johnson

                                          For the Women

For the women who bear children
and nurture them with truth
for the women who cook and clean
behind thankless men

 
for the women who love so hard so true so pure
for the women with faith in God and men
for the women alone with beer and rum
for the women searching for a man at the club, college, church, party
for the women independent of men
for the women searching their souls
for the women who do drugs and freak
for the women who love only women
for the women who play and run and never show
for the women who rise in revolt in hand with men
who say never, never, never again
for the women who suffer abuse and cry for justice
for the women happy and free of maternal madness
for the women who study and write

 
for the women who sell their love to starving men
for the women who love to make love and be loved by men
for the women of Africa who work so hard
for the women of America who suffer the master
for the women who turn to God in prayer and patience

 
for the women who are mothers of children and mothers of men
for the women who suffer inflation, recession, abortion, rejection
for the women who understand the rituals of men and women
for the women who share
for the women who are greedy
for the women with power

 
for the women with nothing
for the women locked down
for the women down town
for the women who break horses
for the women in the fields
for the women who rob banks
for the women who kill
for the women of history
for the women of now
I salute you
A Man.
--Marvin X

I Don't Want to Know Yo Name


I don't want to know nothin bout ya
don't tell me yo name
don't ask me shit
don't tell me shit
don't tell me yo name
don't want nothin from you
no head
no pussy
no ass hole
no kiss
no hug
no smile
no frown
just take yo sick ass down the street
be a pleasure to somebody else
spare me
let me stay in the no stress zone
take your lies
fake hair
fake eyes
fake lips
fake hips
fake pussy
fake ass
fake mind
and let the door kiss yo black ass.
love you madly,
--Marvin X

 I Release You

You said release you
I chant I release you
three times
then you called
emergency
save your nephew
boyz in the hood want his head
gave him refuge in the mountains
manhood training
labor of love for you and him
he is you and you are him
my life is saving youth
what is revolution except saving
the next generation
from getting caught riding dirty
brothers marked for extinction
no use for them
except
caged
enslaved
ignorant
no thinkers wanted
freedom fighters
conscious poets and rappers
I did my job
can I get a little love
hug a kiss
no matter you have someone new
We feed you for Allah’s pleasure only
we desire neither reward nor thanks, Al Qur’an.
marvin x
4.3.07


The Funny Thing is I Already Knew

I see you coming toward me
wind surrounds you
swirling swirling
a dance of dervishes in your stride
wind blows you to me
arms open wide
enfold  greatness of your spirit
I am here at your pleasure
do with me as you wish
no abuse please.
I have no fear of this
I know you already know this.

Ah, the air is so fresh
we must go to the ocean
walk the shore
barefoot in the sand as the tide comes in
holding hands in the wind
the dervish dance and swirl.
--Marvin X
4/9/11

Wish I Could Fly Like a Hawk

 

Wish I could fly like a hawk
just soar above earth
silent
gliding smooth
no noise
silent
observing all
madness below
rats scurrying
snakes in the grass
wish I could fly like a hawk
sometimes in motion still
wings frozen in flight
yet moving
wish I could be hawk
above the madness of it all
the meaningless chatter
cell phone psychosis
talking loud saying nothing
why are you breathing
jogging
without meaning purpose
no mission beyond nothingness
absorbing air from the meaningful
who subscribe to justice
let me fly above the living dead
let me soar
let me dream
imagine
another time and place
another space
this cannot be the end game
the hail marry
let me soar above it all
wings spread wide
let me glide
ah, the air is fresh up here
did I make it to heaven
did I escape hell
come with me
do not be afraid
the night is young
let us fly into the moon
see the crescent
so beautiful
let us fly into the friendly sky
wings spread wide
we are strong and mighty
the hawk.
--Marvin X
10/10/10

Oh, Mighty Kora


I Cannot Hide from Kora
Oh, Mighty Kora
you tear the heart apart
soul from mind
ten thousand years 
seeps into a soul lost in time
Oh, Kora
time lost regained
sounds set centuries ago
no improvisation no jazz
myth/ritual set for infinity
voices heard
message to the king
from the king
griot sings 
king listens obeys sound of kora
submit or die
heart music cannot lie
sound of nights on the River Senegal
thousand warriors dance
holy stomp of a thousand women
breasts shaking in the sun
take me home take me home Kora
I am not bound for this wilderness
dungeon of darkness
how was I taken from my holy land
cast into hell with devils of the worse kind
naked devoid of my holy tongue
my holy mind soul

I speak the language of bastards
men of ill repute
pirates, kidnappers rapists
these are not men the shell of human kind
plunder for illusions
no joy in their ritual
no happiness  no peace
I am weary  in a strange land
O Kora, take me back to the Senegal and Niger
Let me hear you in the day in the night
of ancient times
rhythms of ancestors
let me be at peace
this is not my world
no matter how I try
I am naked in the wind
take me home, take me home kora
let the whirlwind take me 
to the womb of my Mother
let me dwell in my Father's House.
--Marvin X
6/17/10

 
A Poem for Unresolved Grief
When thy lover has gone to eternity
When touch is no more 
no feel in the night in the day
no smile walk
sweetness of body
kissing of lips breasts thighs
When thy lover has gone
A day we never imagine
love blinds 
the day came like a cloud of thunder rain
down upon head
drowning us in sorrow the worse kind
We cannot walk 
listen each day
her voice message 
til we are taken away
want to hear for the last time
voice of love
For all the joy shared
blending two into one
thinking two into one
When thy lover has gone
We are worse than dead
yet alive to suffer pain no one can know
Who has never loved
true love we say we want but never get
we have lived what few ever know
touch feel constant smile
When thy lover has gone
earth opens for the mate as well
no tears enough
No silent moments to get over matters 
confined in the prison of life
wish to leave for other worlds
to see if we can meet again
one so kind so true
life keeps us here bound like slave to master
we yearn for paradise
life is love and love has gone
desire is great pain a mountain
We visit familiar places but are lost
cannot find the way home
We call a friend to pick us up
take us home
there we sit in stupor
thinking of days joy ruled our world
joy never to return.
Lord help us through day night
It hurts to breathe 
think
a picture of our lover
We try night consumes us and we sleep
tomorrow will be a better day.
II
To heal the missing part of you
To feel again the love of yesterday
To realize what is gone cannot return
Flesh is frail
Spirit lives
In the day night
challenge the task
know we are spirit
Of the Great Spirit
We flow with the flow
Not the flesh,
body vessel
Never put faith in flesh
Enjoy the moment
seconds of the day
Romantic hours of night
physical shall pass
Then what shall we do
confounded
Perplexed
depressed
Stuck against the wall
a frog on a lily pad
Flow in the flow of the Great River
Sail down the Nile Niger Congo
Do not drown
reality is transitory
Except the metaphysical 
macro cosmic truth inside of you
Love continues into the ancestor tree
Beyond pain sorrow lost
Tears in the night
Love can be found again
If we try if we stand
As Rumi taught
reeds in the reed bed stand alone
Yet all together
The reed flute is a song of mourning
A yearning to return
Through the door of no return
flute plays the song of joy
A communal chant in the sun
Sing
world will bless you
Praise you sing
your song of sorrow is gone
healing complete
Live again and love
Reach touch somebody
Breathe out the pain
Exhale the misery
Love is in the air 
It blows your way
Listen to the wind
Listen to the sound of your flute.
--M
12/22/07


We're In Love, But You Don't Know Me
You don't know me
you had a chance to know me
before we made love
you had a chance to know my mind
understand my fears
learn about issues
help me heal some things
but you wanted to make love
so you don't know me
we made love
but you don't know me
don't have a clue
think I'm a good d
or some good tight p
but you don't know me
and never will now
because you wanted to make love
you wanted to get a nut
we didn't even talk much
a little bit leading up to sex
I went along
I was horny too
but you don't know me
and I don't know you
now we never will
we blew it forever
because we made love
too fast too quick too soon
now you think you own me
I can't breathe
can't talk on the phone to friends
because we made love
because I gave you some d
you gave me some p
now I'm no longer human
I'm your love slave you my slave
we're in love
but you don't know me
we gonna get married
but you don't know me
we're gonna have children
but you don't know me
you're gonna beat my ass
but you don't know me
you're going to jail
but you don't know me
we're getting a divorce
but you don't know me
now we're friends
"Just Friends" Charlie Parker tune
But you don't know me
and never will.