i remember i was there

Last night we gathered to celebrate Ntozake Shange’s birthday by writing together for an hour. We time travelled back to childhood streets, we redefined the necessary, we celebrated collard greens, we mourned, we re-evaluated. We became witnesses for each other and for ourselves. Ntozake Shange’s bravery held us and made us brave. Below is the poem we wrote together as a group at the end of the workshop. Sign up for Sculpted Impulse our Ntozake Shange Immersion which goes live today. You can engage the immersion at any time.

i remember         i was there

after Ntozake Shange’s “i. mood indigo”

(created at our writing hour in honor of Ntozake Shange’s birthday)

            9 deep breaths are a portal

i remember                 i was there

so many trees: oak, maple, sycamore, beech, birch, pine.

i remember                 i was there

            The Red Apple on Jackson

i remember                 i was there

            the pots were well seasoned

i remember                 i was there

            the cobbler from the peaches from the tree out front were love

i remember                 i was there

            I saw you in my dreams

i remember                 i was there

            Flagged by walking with my sister..

i remember                 i was there

            Mold bloomed along the edge of the banana bread,

              sweetness draws out all kinds of growth

i remember                 i was there

            The name emerged as breath

i remember                 i was there

traveling the waters with mama, the ancestors a whisper

i remember                 i was there

            that street felt like home, even if it wasn’t

i remember                 i was there

            My dead sister time traveled with me

i remember                 i was there

            I dreamt, I rooted, in earth and in the air

i remember                 i was there

            Aunt Lorry’s magic pot had enough for the whole block

i remember                 i was there

            healing my inner child is possible

i remember                 i was there

            familia as the capital of a country and dreaming forward

i remember                 i was there

            The street below this street, tar and rocks turned to dust

i remember                 i was there

            I belonged like the mango trees in the yard, abundant in fruit

i remember                 i was there

            Collards, collards, collards!

i remember                 i was there

            a soft suture for open wounds

i remember                 i was there

            Beauty still blossoms in darkness

i remember                 i was there

            My mama nem stood gentrification in the eyes and never blinked

i remember                 i was there

the man feeding long sugar cane stalks into a cold greedy machine to extract its juices     and mmm gimme some

i remember                 i was there

            East 44th Street to Tallwood Lane Tall would tell tales pain bare Mama K

i remember                 i was there

            We lived on Cutler Road and the little church did too

i remember                 i was there

It was a quaint street with lots of sad houses and even sadder people, who somehow took all that sad and made love; a love that still lingers on longing fingertips and weepy eyes 20 years later

i remember                 i was there

            The sky, the sun, the mountains

i remember                 i was there

            the bravery of going back, love to the time travellers

i remember                 i was there

            A softness that remained inspired.

i remember                 i was there

            jet magazines and World Book encyclopedias

i remember                 i was there

            unconditional love of the grandmother, delight at my mere presence

i remember                 i was there

            The house of Black feminist abundance

i remember                 i was there