by Khadjuka (Don Mizell)
(from the album "Stepping Into Tomorrow" by Donald Byrd)
Days to trot
In lions gait
At the crossroads
In the vortex
In a space silver strut.
Side-steppin' the blues
High in platform shoes
Got nothin' left to lose;
Choosin' what to use
To git over.
C'mon street lady
For a real fine ride
We'll glide astride
Wild Stallions, fast
(Be rainbow-rakish
In lush moonlight)
Be ridin' inside
the juju feel
Naked, fleet and very sleek
Surging to the source,
On wave-wild stallions
Frothing and dark
In a magic race with
Time to the shore
Where space funk is
tomorrow and Tomorrow
Is Now.
Like a changing Same
The Real Thang
& it ain't no shame
that it ain't no shame
to be steppin', first
Into Tomorrowwwwwww
by Emory Holmes
(from the album "Gambler's Life" by Johnny Hammond)
so slick says to me:
bring your lady
and shoot down to the sound factory,
it's a party.
shoot down and feel your roots and party,
and
me and my ol' lady fly down,
in the space coupe,
before cool breezes, from sky high.
down to the ear-star lady
and her organ man,
in with their arps,
and moogs,
and jazz and things.
with pretty black sisters and smooth cats sippin' tea:
music men, reggins, players, saints
- jumpstreet niggers in paradise,
layin' back.
slick is a co-pilot
while the brothers groove,
as johnny 'hammond' smith, larry, fonce and chuck
dive like pearl hunters
into deep south african waters,
and i feel the roofs shake,
as my fathers rise like emperors
from beneath these trackless streets.
here is an album of black visions
and of dark windows and of bright blue spaces
here in louisville poolrooms, rhodesian sunsets and thoroughfares,
and new york junkie streets.
here in fine brown skinned ladies
lounging by lighted phones at evening
on pale blue satin sheets.
i feel my blackness,
think of blackness,
and of our brothers and sisters dead
before us,
offering up, with their ghosts,
the hot, sweet, black music, which is soul.
and the gas lit alabama meat markets of my youth, where,
during evening, under sultry dixie nights,
our fathers, and our grandfathers revealed
crude, white, wounds
received while paying dues in dixie.
it was the blues then
and it is the blues now.
lady stephanie, johnny smith, chuck,
the mizell brothers, slick,
you and i,
sail here within,
the river nile, and the missouri and the harlem waters, together
with our soulful mirrors and these high,
black, cosmic maps.
you see
we are together after all,
and it's a party.
we have gone out of dreams and
it is nice out here,
as each of us follows,
without pressure,
the simple, peaceful,
the noiseless road.
toward the keepers of high, calm,
and chartless places.
by Gary Bartz
(from the album "The Shadow Do")
She gave us you
she gave us me
she gave us oil
and redwood trees.
From molecules, red giants and to spiders
Kwaku Ananse was so slick his words beguiled you.
thunder is not rain
roaring lions kill no game
and half a loaf is better than no
Bread at all.
A waterfall
Produces wheat,
But all don't eat.
Where there is no shame there is no honor.
By the time the fool has learned, the game is over.
The moon is bright for love,
I can see Vega above.
You only get one chance to learn.
Miss Butterfly
perfumes her wings,
a summer sky,
a night that sings.
"Do not lose your head your brains are in it,"
said Lester Young one night at 10th and Lenox.
A blade won't cut a blade
and a cheat won't cheat a cheat
and what has blown away cannot be
Found again,
a sound begins,
a dragonfly,
a purple sky.
I'm sure you will agree about my theory.
Some believe in Jesus, some in Mary.
Some can see a God
in a vegetable,
dogs believe in God because they are.
by Larry Mizell
(from the album "Say My Friend" by Rance Allen)
No man walks alone
But each man is his own
Destiny is just the sea of life
Happiness is there but there's a price
There's a valley, it's true
That we all must pass through
Be humble, be strong
If you stumble, get up and go on
Don't walk around with your head down
Seek the love of life and you shall have no fears
Raise your head, go on and climb the stairs
You can find it, there's a will and you're the way
Love's behind it, peace of mind can come your way
Be humble, be strong
If you stumble, get up and go on
So here's to your health
When you're at peace with yourself
You're at peace with the world