Love Poems be Boppin'
This article originally appeared in Southern Exposure Vol. 3 No. 1, "Southern Black Utterances Today." Find more from that issue here.
who said love poems
had to be stilled
by some set rhythmic form . . .
love oughta be yelled about
love oughta boogie down in poems
the maker of music
oughta be love
love is walkin a mile
for a puff of yo love
that's M-m-m M-m-m good
love is the number one brand
that sticks to yo arms
and is higher than the highest
high-priced spread
that is good to the last drop
love is you
lettin my fingers do the walkin
through the pages of yo blkmind
and the soft, tender touch
of an ebony child
love is blkman/blkwoman
together in love love
is
love is one—ness
and homemade biscuits
on visiting day
and the first smile of the sun
and Jesus sayin
“hey, y'all, yah i'm Black!"
love is respect
for yo woman
and yo brotha's woman
and yo brotha's brotha's woman
love is the choc'late warmth
that melts in yo heart
not in yo hands
love poems be boppin
unchained and runnin free
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Sybil J. Dunbar
Sybil J. Dunbar is a member of the Southern University Writers Workshop (1975)