Rhythm & Blues (The 38th Song)

April 27, 2014  8:25 A.M.

The sun is only slightly shinning, but on this day

my age has the brightest smile.  I’ve watched life grow

and it has come a long way since my early days.

Back then, just a child, I use to celebrate laughter

as an innocent melody of freedom, but quickly I learned

how much sacrifice it took for me to have that freedom -

I used to believe the world was everyone’s kingdom

and was made aware – during my 11th song – that my kind

wasn’t always wanted here, in this place my journey now

calls home –

you see,

by the time I conquered puberty, just old enough to sculpt

my own individuality, I felt that I was alone.

It was a loneliness that by the time I was in my twenties

I evicted from the shelter of my heart and begin to start anew.

I wasn’t only a black man, brown skin,

I was also a gay man, a vision of sin

But in order to win, I had to create a voice

to let the world know that the definition of me

was only a choice in my creation and by relation

the song that I share in my thirties is a song that is blessed

with the rhythm of my soul and the blues of my heart -

lyrics of equality.

The clouds have taken over the fullness of the sky

as I conclude this 38th song, but even they belong,

even those clouds symbolize the influence of creation.

I am reminded, the darker days need to be celebrated also,

because without them

there are no rhythm & blues because our tears

always need a reason to dance.

(2014)