Woman-child...

img by: Hamed Saber

I saw a young girl y'day - white - pretty - big butt - pushing a pram. And it really saddened me. She looked SO young. Her face hadn't completely matured yet (her body obviously had). She still looked cute like you could just squeeze her cheeks, like you just wanted to wrap her up in a protective hug. She had that kind of face.

I mention her butt 'cos, yes, I noticed it...

...and it made me wonder if things would have been different:

- if she knew how to handle (the changes in) her body
- if she knew how to handle the attention she got
- if her self-esteem was up to scratch


It might not be true for her, but all I could see was a girl - a very young girl - who responded to a guy because he was paying her attention.

For all I know, she could be in a steady & loving relationship, and the baby could be born from that union, and if that's the case, I'm happy for her ...but what are the chances? The UK has the highest teen pregnancy rate and I think Newham (where I live) is somewhere towards the top (must check).


If we (women) tell young girls how beautiful their bodies are, then maybe they won't seek approval elsewhere (often with life-changing consequences). If we teach them how powerful their bodies actually are, then maybe they won't give that power so readily to others. But the thing is, if you don't know the coin in your pocket is worth a million bucks, you'll treat it like the penny you think it is.


I wish I had a magic wand. I wish I had a bigger hug to give. I wish I was balanced enough emotionally and spiritually with less drama in my life, less work to do on myself, so that I had more of myself to give.

What ever Happened to Heavy D?

pic by: aymlis

Remember him? He was this big cuddly rapper - came out in the early **90s (or was it the 80s?), light-skinned, always wore dark glasses, knew how to mooove.

I don't know why but I just thought of him - one of his songs (the one he did with Al B Sure) was playing in my head:

I want somebody to love me for me

Can't remember the rest of the song. I think it starts:

I search low and I search high
trying to find me a cutie pie

Well...something like that.


Oh, I just remembered another bit:

They say when you wait, one never finds
they also say that love is blind
It ain't that blind that I can't see
somebody out there who's perfect for me
somebody who's gonna love me for me

Then Al B Sure sings: I know you want love

Heavy D replies: Love, that's what I'm talking about,
a relationship, a commitment, something to live for

Then Al B: Maybe we could take our time

Err, don't remember the rest.


Come to think if it: what happened to Al B Sure? He sang this wicked song - can't recall the title but the chorus went: I can tell you how I feel about you night and day....   Was a really nice song.


Anyway...



(**p.s: I ain't gonna apologise for my age - we all have to be born some time)

Dear BBC: you obviously ain’t done your homework...

pic by: GirlReporter

I was watching BBC News 24 a few hrs back (a sub-program called 'Your News'), and there was a report about a Poetry Idol competition in Abu Dhabi called 'The Prince of Poets' (you might wanna read this too) (If the comp's open to both sexes, then why call it 'Prince' of Poets?)

Any-hay-way, after the report was aired, the presenter asked a guy (male, middle-aged, white - now why doesn't that surprise me?) if a similar sort of competition was possible in Britain.

The guy says he's not sure something like that was possible in Britain as he felt Britain has lost its oral tradition.

Three things:

1) Dear BBC, there is an event (in London) called Poetry Idol - a spoken-word competition organised by Shortfuse.

2) Dear BBC, don't you remember you've been running a BBC Poetry Slam every year since 2005?

Is a poetry slam not modelled on the oral tradition? Pray, tell me, BBC?

Or, wait, maybe there's a BBC pretending to be you with the same website? Stranger things have happened (like showing black programs in the wee hours of the morning).


3) Why didn't they interview a cross section of poets, not just a middle-aged white poet who runs a poetry event in Ealing? I mean, there are a whole range of poetry events out there. Here are just a few:

- Word4Word run by Kat Francois (who, coincidentally, won the BBC3 Poetry Slam back in 2005)

- Speakeasy run by Baden Prince Jnr

- The Poetry Café in Covent Garden have a poetry event for almost every day of the week.

- 'Sounds Like' run by TShirt and Jeans, performance poetry org Apples & Snakes, the funky Poejazzi, Process at the RoundHouse in Camden.

- The Rise London Youth Slam

- The London Teenage Poetry Slam

- Hammer & Tongue who run a series of poetry slams & regular poetry events in Oxford & Brighton


(**Most of these are in London. There are loads outside London though.)


So why weren't the poets/poetry organisers of those events interviewed? Or is that just too much work, BBC?


I often look at the world through Martin-Luther-King tainted glasses. I'll hug the hell out of any human (as long as they don't smell, ya get me?, or aren't looking for a grope). When colour becomes the sole reason for one person or persons to gain (or be given) an advantage (or disadvantage), then as we'd say in pidgin English: na problem oh.. Art should be a playground for everyone, not exclusive.

Sun(Rise)...

Me and the sun:
we know what it's like
to wake up
when the whole world's still sleeping
when your lover's still sleeping
in your arms

'cos the gods leant me
a spoonful of sugar
in the shape of the woman
laying beside me
Her sweet honeysuckle breath
caressing my face
each time she exhales


My queen sleeps...
but I know her spirit
is awake
and she can see me
watching her - intently


I can't help it
My soul plays jazz melodies
on her skin

and she wakes...

She wakes from her feline slumber
and we rise
and fall
and sing

Yes we rise
and fall
and sing

Inhibitions long lost
boundaries long surpassed
we rise and fall
and sing our bodies
with sweet violence...




© ebele.