Friday, August 04, 2017

Poem for Today




O Daedalus, Fly Away Home

(For Maia and Julie) 

                       Drifting night in the Georgia pines, 
                       coonskin drum and jubilee banjo. 
                               Pretty Malinda, dance with me. 

                       Night is juba, night is congo. 
                               Pretty Malinda, dance with me. 

                       Night is an African juju man 
                       weaving a wish and a weariness together 
                               to make two wings. 

                       O fly away home fly away 

                       Do you remember Africa? 

                               O cleave the air fly away home 

                       My gran, he flew back to Africa, 
                       just spread his arms and 
                               flew away home. 

                       Drifting night in the windy pines; 
                       night is laughing, night is a longing. 
                               Pretty Malinda, come to me. 

                       Night is a mourning juju man 
                       weaving a wish and a weariness together 
                               to make two wings. 

                               O fly away home fly away

© by owner. provided at no charge for educational purposes.

Note:
    In 1913, Robert Hayden, poet, essayist, and educator who served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1976–78 (the first African-American writer to hold the title, which is today known as US Poet Laureate), was born.

2 comments:

Brian Joseph said...

That is nice verse. I really like that quote. I agree with it. Art, to a great extent, is about making sense of the world.

James said...

Brian,
Thanks for your comment. The poet is inspirational in his view of art.