Poems by Patrick Howell

Aesthetic Ascension series by Malik Seneferu , www.maliksart.com

spiritually speaking,

we are

cosmic earthlings asleep

at this epoch of our collective being

awakened only when our chakras

banging at the lowest infinitesimal monotone metronome frequency

Boom.  Boom. Ka-bang.

are disrupted by  the wicked doings and the impositions

of our souls by them evil ones.

Then, sleeping giants tremble terrible awakened,

marching with the authority of elephant herds

in the long rhythmic strides of gazelles across the plain lands

roaring in the chorus of the lion’s prides

with the organization and immediacy of the flock heading

for its true north, after our longest winter.

A lost tribe -

Intergalactic, our reach is from the earth to the heavens,

the majestic wing expanse of eagles,  

the grace, precision and beauty of humming birds,

the electricity and power of the mighty ocean,

and the magic of mystery,

the majesty of gods.

Patrick A. Howell photographed at UC Santa Barbara Black Student Union

Photo and Artwork by Malik Seneferu

And then, well, the vibe is alive

and we have the love of God, a Spirit Force

where there is nothing that we cannot affect

for we have done it all before

as Olmec, Pharaohs, Moors

Kush, Mesopotamian, Stars

Black lives have always mattered most in  

the cosmos, Electric church, blue notes

and the most high heavenly frequencies.

Psychosomatic cosmic dust -

We are-

the dreams of ancient eternals and ancestors

whose towering visions

are matched only by our grind

hustle and grit.  We channel the earth,

our bodies with our bodies.

Yes, yes.  Yes, to thyselves let us be truly

awakened NOW

FREDRICK DOUGLASS by Jules Arthur,  www.julesarthur.com

These Griots

Magnificent energies fleshed,

low baritone is humming-

resonating truths, meting out justices…

just by simple being.

Soiled mahogany dripping.

Magnificent like empires,

cosmic metaphors

come from the eternal fires

of original creation

outside the space that created time.

These griots – they be taking thrones

Wherever they sit.  As they be.

Wisdom of ages, their minds are tomes

where there was once marvel,

re-imagining worlds from with-

in -  magical beings.

See them, amongst us

manifesting.  Call ‘em old

their soul eternal, priceless treasures

platinum, silvers, gold.

Dark matter of consciousness

Transformed into epochs, new ages,

new ways of being

from the darkened nebuli

of the inner mind, rooted in cosmic

metaphor

re-imagines herself  and her relationship

the sun burns a little rosier upon the

the griots crown – time having tinged

the widows peak silver.

Be careful !

These Griots- they wit sharp like acid

gone is they id,

call you stupid, make you it.

Yes – I said it – Griots stand/sit

and the cosmos alter.

It’s not so hard to explain with these Griots-

They are made of the immortal

and their imaginations soiled fertile with living

realities.  These Griots manifest by but….

These Griots.

Painting by Jules Arthur,  www.julesarthur.com

King Toure’ Art Man

1. Art Man. Hear history. Art Askia Touré. Hear now? You listen to Askia Muhammad Touré and you will hear history. You will hear the tears, brimming. You will hear the joy swimming. Hoarse laughter circling. You will hear the pride, unmasked. Yes, a distinct color timbre of glee that is in that voice that is history as it keeps time with staccatoed alliteration and a vibrato that hums. A sweet soul. Magnificent soul of the Kora humming is his S’s. See history is made of men and women who did the work, made the time. Their time is history whose hearts sing as they walked the streets. To Harlem in the 1960s from Songhai in the 1400s, history is paved with blood sweat and tears. Hear? Bone crushing rhythms? Yes - it is loud, undeniable. And definite percussion. Authority. Animal skin on Djembe drum rapping. It is our voices emerge from the dark into the light of day. It is the sound of elections. It is the sounds of revolutions. Resistance. Soulutions. The earth’s heart beating is earthquakes and them- they voices. It is the beat of a man’s heart covered over in voice. And these hearts in unison, a great spirit force immortal. Risen. Now, history sits at a room in Boston and composes lines to not only record the record but carry the spirit forward. The voice carries on from the mouth of a svelte sage into the ears of youngs. Hear it now? Yes. It’s the voice of Askia Muhammad Touré. Black. Arts. Movement. It’s poetic dialect. Didactic. Red heart, earth center. Talk slowly beat. We are born again again and again. This fire rages. Calmed only by breezes.   Spread like wild fire by breezes.
2. But let’s ground these words to earth and bring the high talk to the earth’s granular vibrations. I’ve said it before - What a blessing it is to converse with the elders; to glean their wisdom with simple truths, simple talk. Their words are like a benediction. They are sonar bridges throughout the ages. Are we listening to our elders? What Askia Muhammad Touré embodies is the beauty of our elders. What Malaika Adero built is the libraries.   What Chestor Higgins, eye of Horus, sees is creation as the sun.  What Marvin X. Jackmon embodies is the power of our spirits.   What Abiodun Oyewole is the keeps the rap rooted.  Who Marie Dutton Brown listens to is the orders of ancestors.   And we are a wealthy people. Billions is a meager number when compared to the riches of our soul, of our legacy. Our elders are rich with time, cosmic beings who know no limits. These are the shoulders upon which we stand upon. And this is the measure by which our children will look to us, their forebearers, a new power generation.

https://urbanintellectuals.com

3. See now? Askia Muhammad Toure’ is the spirit unrivalled in living and the spirit fleshed from ancient ruler to ruling griot, the times were not lost on him but made by him, enhanced by him, made whole by metaphysical knowings. How are we born? How will we die? Askia Toure is not concerned with that. The charlatans flee his presence. He knows the secrets and it is within how we live, enhanced by an eternal fire with no end, lighting days and ending nights. Black Pride! Fire that crushes the narcissism, barbarism and nihilism of capitalism. From the Niles to the Kilimanjaro, he carries within a barrel chest broad, the beat for generations- from Black Power Movement to Millennials carrying forth the fight for black liberation, from the pride of ancients, his is the voice carrying instruction. Black Panthers strut tall and long. From the tall grass of the Sahara to the Oakland, Chicago, Detroit and NYC urbans. From the Pyramids to the Streets of Harlem, his is instruction that will born Hip Hop, make the world spin like on boogie. Instruction that will born the new era hereto un-named. Instruction that will cleanse itself and renew the contract for our beautiful women, through whom travel the unborn, the unknown, the new heroes. King griot Askia Muhammad Toure’ - He is ours, a smile as broad as the heavens, dimples deep as waterfalls cascading. Our living, breathing liberation. No cheap commercial, this the real thang, a cosmic heart beating. His is the divine masculine, percolating territories from ancient kingdoms to afro- futuristic landscapes. In his palms, the palm lines are oceans and mountains, hereto un-named. Futures unfurling with great African names.

A mystic preacher, metaphysical in form, his is the wisdom of the ages, the metaphysics of the sages, raging fierce for the divine feminine, every syllable uttered, a sly tryst increasing the entwinement betwix his masculine and her feminine. Oh, how Askia Muhammad Toure’ loves his woman. He loves his women as only black man with a black soul could. He would kill for his women but so much more powerful is his towering vulnerability and gentle soul, he will live for his black woman, and passage of time will not still this beautiful will. His is the terrible fire sweeping through towering myriad conscience, keeping us straight woke! His is the spirits and souls and tribal edicts of technologies that are coals waiting to be be lit by new soul, new knows, new millennials. Askia Muhammad Toure’s is the immortal soul of our beloved ancestor resurrected. A mythic figure beyond time.