Harlem Renaissance - what I heard

I hear in Harlem it sounds like Jazz

and Jazz sounds like a young brown man
practicing his Trumpet
the Trumpet sounds like Duke Ellington
and Duke Ellington sounds like Harlem

I hear in Harlem it sounds like self-recognition
and self-recognition sounds like a poem

read at the corner cafe

the corner cafe sounds like Langston Hughes

and Langston Hughes sounds like Harlem

I hear in Harlem it sounds like rhythm rituals

and rhythm rituals sound like protest against oppression

and oppression sounds like the Blues

and the Blues sounds like Bessie Smith, Gertrude "Ma" Rainey,

Barbecue Bob, Blind Boy Fuller, Alberta Hunter, Mamie Smith,

Big Bull Broozy, Ida Cox and all those voices 

from the south of Harlem sounds like Harlem

I hear in Harlem it sounds like a big party

and the big party sounds like it's full of painters and poets

and musicians and singers and writers and dancers

expressing their truths, embracing their uniqueness,

honoring their culture, establishing their voice

giving birth to a Renaissance and the Renaissance...

well...that also sounds like Harlem                                          

by Shonnese C.L. Coleman

1st published in "The Stride of Our Walk...The Root of Our Stand" 

A Collection of Performance Poetry