[1630] jump mama
Guest poem submitted by Anil C. Mohan <anil_c_mohan@>:
pretty summer day
grammama sittin on her porch
easy
rockin her grandbaby in her wide lap
ol men sittin in their lincoln
tastin and talkin and talkin and tastin
young boys on the corner
milkin a yak yak wild hands baggy pants
young girls halfway up the block
jumpin that double dutch
singin their song
kenny kana paula
be on time
cause school begins
at a quarter to nine
jump one two three and aaaaaaah. . .
round the corner comes
this young woman
draggin herself heavy home from work
she sees the young boys
sees the old men
but when she sees the girls she just starts smilin
she says let me get a little bit of that
they say you can't jump
you too old
why they say that
o, why they say that
she says tanya you hold my work bag
chaniqua come over here girl i want you to hold my
handbag
josie could you hold my grocery bag
please
kebč take my purse
she starts bobbin her head, jackin her arms
tryin to catch the rhythm of the ropes
and when she jumps inside those turning loops
the girls crowd her sing their song
kenny kana paula
be on time
cause school begins
at a quarter to nine
jump one two three and
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
she jumps on one leg -- aaaaah
she dances sassy saucy -- aaaaah
jump for the girls mama
jump for the stars mama
jump for the young boys sayin
jump mama! jump mama!
jump for the old woman sayin -- aww, go head baby
and what the young girls say
what the young girls say
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
-- Kurtis Lamkin
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I chanced upon this wonderful poem a few days ago and then noticed that you
had no poems by the relatively new-age African-American poet Kurtis Lamkin
(biography appended). Lamkin is a multi-faceted talent - besides being a
poet, he is also a musician who plays a 21-stringed West African harp/lute
instrument called the 'kora', has composed the lyrics and music for a dance
concert ('Psychic Lover') and had an animated poem "The Foxes Manifesto,"
based upon the 1976 Soweto Rebellion that was aired for two years on PBS.
I'm not given to much interpreting of poems. More often, poems that I hold
dear are ones that connect with me at a deep, albeit inexpressible level.
This Lamkin poem impressed upon me in two essential ways. One, it's basic
cadence - it's wonderful rhythmic, bass feel...the 'make your feet tap, body
sway and head nod from side to side, up and down' kind of groove. And two,
the way it connected aspects of our different 'life selves' together: the
child - active, free, uninhibited, insensitive, self-centred; the young
working adult - harried, cumbered, responsible, tired, worried, hopeful,
'child'ish; the old folk - unhurried - slow-paced, encouraging, observant,
contemplative - reflective.
Hope our minstrel readers like it too....
Anil C. Mohan
[Bio of Kurtis Lamkin]
Kurtis Lamkin is currently touring the United States with a new collection
of praise poems entitled EL SHABAZZ (CD, Jambaco Sound). As he reads these
poems in praise of the spiritual connection he experienced as a participant
in the Million Man March and in praise of El Hajj Malik El Shabazz (Malcolm
X), Kurtis Lamkin plays the kora, a twenty-one stringed West African
harp-lute used by Djelis (griots, troubadours) to accompany original and
traditional compositions. His own oral compositions explore the counterpoint
between the fixed meanings of words and the raw sounds ("scat") that emerge
from and dissolve into feeling. He has performed his poems and music
internationally, from Sajara, Gambia (West Africa) to the Guggenheim Museum
in New York. His poems have also been broadcast on PBS as a short animated
film (THE FOXES MANIFESTO), choreographed as a dance concert ("Psychic
Lover"), and previously recorded on the CD MY JUJU (1995). From 1994-1996,
he was Poet in Residence at the New School for Social Research. Before that,
he taught in metropolitan New York public schools and community sites
through Teachers & Writers Collaborative. A Philadelphia native, he recently
moved with his family to Charleston, South Carolina. His poems are included
in I FEEL A LITTLE JUMPY AROUND YOU (1996), and he has received fellowships
from the South Carolina Arts Commission and The Fund for Poetry.
[this poem is archived, accessible and awaiting your comments at]
http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1630.html
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