"Marvin's Song for Renee" (from Renee and Jay)
Sweet sizzlin' soul sister,
silken soft-skinned sis-TUH!
Gimme some play.
Share soma-dat darkness
with a white boy today.
Rub soma your color on me
the old-fashioned way,
sweet mocha sis-TUH,
give a white boy some play.
I seen you out walkin',
out struttin' yo' stuff,
head high, shoulders square--
I can't get enough.
You cut your eyes on me,
you're playin' a game--
sexy soul sister
in the dark we're the same.
Don't care what your friends say,
don't care what folks whisper,
just gimme a chance
my smoldering sweet sister.
Sweet smokin'-hot sister,
sexy, sultry, sweet sis-TUH!
Gimme some play.
Share soma your darkness
with a white boy today.
Grind soma your color on me
the passionate way,
Simmering, seductive sis-TUH,
give my whiteness some play
"We are" (for my sons; from Renee and Jay 2)
We are
an annoyance, an embarrassment,
a troublesome element
on the Periodic Table of America--
We are
mixed.
We are
gold-bronze-iron-zinc,
Scotch-Irish-Cherokee-African-
American. American. American.
We are
the melting pot.
We are
ashy-legged, good-haired grandchildren
with Nay-Nays and Chubbies,
Grandmas and Grandpas,
with a taste for chitlins and greens,
milk and apple pie.
We are not yellow/half-breed/light-skinned
(we're rainbows)
We are not trying to act black or white
(just human)
We are not a statistic the NAACP covets to keep us in its race
(the NAACP needs to come to its Census)
We are not a minority
(a majority of the American Gene flows in us)
We are not searching for our roots
(they're everywhere we look)
We are not in search of a consciousness
(we're content with our character)
We are not out to prove ourselves to anyone
(just everyone)
But
if you think
We are
a problem--
that's your problem.
We'll solve ourselves, thank you.
"What it's all About" (from Jade Ed.)
It's all about love:
checkin' life's menu board
and knowin' who's special,
leashin' your dogs
and lovin' by doin',
servin' honest sentences
to the ones we say we love,
and the sun lovin' you brown
when your love comes down.
It's all about family:
sleepin' head up, toes down,
wakin' to your mama's smile,
gettin' hope instead of a whippin',
givin' time instead of dimes,
namin' what breaks us up,
findin' cures that glue us back together,
and the sun lovin' you brown
while your family loves you down.
It's all about life:
knowin' money ain't nothin'
if your mind is empty,
keepin' things simple,
takin' a stand wherever you sit,
makin' friends with the present,
dimmin' lights on the past,
and the sun lovin' you brown
when life gets you down.
It's all about heaven:
dreamin' of God
while He dreams of us,
knowin' that even Jesus wept,
knowin' that God is the color of water,
and the sun lovin' you brown
while all of heaven shines down.
It's all about it all, it all, it all:
and the sun lovin' you brown
while we love you down
