A SOnG our OF HARLEM VOX HUMANA Antar s. K. Mberl. A Song out of" arlem, 1980 A. Song OutOf Harlem Poems by Antar S. K. Mberi The Humana Press Inc• . Clifton, new Jersey DEDICATION To my family; my daughters Izetta and Yvonne Oshun Kali, river woman of honey My Party and my publisher To Harlem, song of unheard sorrows and smoldering joy ready to burst into flames, to burn up the night Harlem in my veins Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Main entry under title: Mberi, Antar S. K. A song out of Harlem. (VOl[ Humana) I. Title. PS3563.B4S6 811'.54 80-12500 ISBN-13: 978-0-89603-021-3 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4612-6000-4 DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4612-6000-4 Copyright@ 1980 The HUMANA Press Inc. Crescent Manor P. O. Box 2148 Clifton, NJ 07015 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher TABLE OF CONTENTS Rivers, 3 Nothing Went Untouched This Morning, 5 N uflo de Olano, 8 Window Woman, 10 Night, 12 In Spain, In Harlem, 13 Puerto Rican Vineyard, 18 Pablo, 20 Charles Street, 21 Song Out of Harlem, 28 Lost Heroes, 30 Alberto Moreau, Companero, 32 Companeras, 34 Pablo Again, 36 Brazil, New York, Chile, Nicaragua, and Angola, 37 What Do You Dream Of!, 38 COUlYTIIY Song to My Party, 41 Country, 42 Old Black Women, 46 You Came To Me, 48 Like A Flower Grown from Fire, 50 Like Me You Come from Clay, Fiery Clay, 52 How Little Survives Our Wars, Oshun, 54 Song of a River, Woman, 56 Out of the Struggle Life's Handed Us, 57 From Your Small Breasts of Bronze, 60 CITY OP SORES Dusktrain of the Underground Railroad, 63 City of Sores: In Four Movements, 68 1. (Folia): The City, 68 2. (Minuet in Duet): African Twist, Latin Boogaloo, Then Shingaling, 71 3. (Passacaglia Blues): City of Sores, 73 4. (Chorale Coda): Percussion Bittersweet, 83 About the Author •.. Antar S. K. Mberi was born and raised in New York City. He studied at Ohio University, and subsequently has taught literature, history, and political science. His writings have appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines, and in both national and international anthologies. Mberi's poetry has won several awards, and has been translated into a number of languages. He is an exciting and powerful reader, and has dramatically presented his work on radio and television, in concert, and on the stage. RIVERS A SOIYC1 our 01' 1fARlDI/ 3 Rivers There are rivers in a city such as ours waterless, primordial rivers muddier than the Mississippi rivers more destitute and uncertain than the mangy Hudson or Harlem rivers with mouths that leak night and day winter and spring Summer and autumn have their rivers, too in a city such as ours aged and young rivers that never feel their muscles carrying the city with sweltering mouths of tar cracked cement and chipped dreams rivers decked with trash night and day winter and spring Summer and autumn always drive rivers primordial, furtive rivers funky, blues-filled rivers rivers of the city rivers of certainty with songmouths of dreams and desire In a city such as ours there lurk the oppressed, like me walled in sunk out of sight fighting upward night and day winter and spring summer and autumn 4/MTARM~R1 IUVMS Through the veins of my people who labor, struggle and rise up with the sun testing the mettle of their muscles there flow rivers of dignity rivers of the city rivers I drink from night and day winter and spring summer and autumn