Home
I’ve often lost myself
In the ether or mythos
Reinvention
Just keep your promise
And always
Bring me back to Harlem
You must remember Harlem
That place where we were nothing more than
Boy and Girl
With fates determined by
Spin the bottle and red light, green light, 123
All the while studying hip hop
Like the hot butter
Popped the pop lock
We knew the planet rock would never stop
Hell
You made Mt. Morris Park feel like Eden
Back where we listened
To poets
Boomboxes
And barbershop scholars
Who would breathe life from
La Marqueta back to 125
Back when we danced
Breathlessly and recklessly
As men with no money
Sang songs of the evils of
Love and tenderness
To war torn
Senoritas
Who desperately need a break
From contemplating the blacks and blues
Of the soles of their shoes
That Harlem,
Where crack vials could not break our stride,
And poor did not matter
When we played –
We were just happy to be alive.
Shiek O Trivette is a health care professional and writer living in New York City.