Evidence of Existence

by Shonnese C. L. Coleman

The call…unknowing

The Fall…unexpected

The discovery…fatal…but not without evidence of existence

SOUND THE ALARM PLEASE!

Arrested Development in Harlem!

Our brother has been called home and we roam aimlessly…

moan famously…noting those humbled by his acquaintance

SOUND THE ALARM I SAID!

We need all hands-on deck

Unfinished business to protect

A life-breath with stories told & untold…crated memories to behold

Safely holding your memory in my heart

Standing witness with everyone…eager to play/be a part of what’s next

What’s next from the Detroit-born boy with a burst of gut-belly laughter

Expanding beyond the highest rafter of every theater house he has known

Knowing his blessed gifts…striving & achieving dreams so vivid

Growing young/old into manhood…he lived it!  OH YES! HE LIVED IT!

SOUND THE ALARM!

SOUND THE ALARM!

SOUND THE ALARM PLEASE!

A Legacy Development in Harlem!

Our brother has been called home and we now offer 

evidence of his existence…

For Rod Gailes OBC (1968-2022)

By the Ocean

I'm going to sit right here on this earthly soil...see what happens
going to walk to the fringes of this water...feel a wave touch my toes
I'm going to kneel and put my hand-print in the muddy
going to stare down the sandpiper that's staring at me
I'm going to fling my arms in the air
square off with the sky
smile at the sun
hug the air
marvel at God and his wonder

by Shonnese C. L. Coleman

Mid-day Hike

Edge of cliffs rocks on water
don't fall climbs constant
never-ending forward
never-shrinking mountains sky high
your world is vast-fast and slow-moving covid-spreading
mind-wandering dust-kicking
chatting down star sacrifices, their vices in the wood
holy no but holly should cleanse its heart in the stream
navigating streams, broken burnt-hollow we are
breathing through the mask
following trails, ducking spittle in the air
log bridges to lift us up as we shield on born day
a new way to celebrate still being alive

by Shonnese C. L. Coleman

Promo produced by Radio Theatre For Your Soul, Where Storytellers Gather...Around The Mic

Tune-in to the Season 4 Finale

#Tunein TODAY!!! Sat. Dec. 30th, 2017 to Radio Theatre For Your Soul on Accelerated Radio, 2 pm PT/5 pm ET. #SEASONFINALE #Rebroadcast #100thAnniversaryBroadcast

For a Season

Seasons Change
Winters come and go
Bitter sweet memories that forever camp
where we grow...
Growing still inside of ourselves
to hear the voice of the MOST HIGH...
Inside of us HE lives
And the seasons...they never Die...
Seasons Change
Winters come and go
Bitter sweet memories camp forever
and...we grow

by Shonnese C.L. Coleman

Join the Storyteller-gathering 12/16/17

Radio Theatre For Your Soul, Where Storytellers Gather...Around The Mic on Accelerated Radio (AcceleratedRadio.net) is moving into the Christmas Holiday NOW and celebrating 100+ broadcasts through the end of the month. The poetic offerings at the end of each show are sometimes familiar songs. Be sure to tune-in 12/16/17 for our last LIVE broadcast of Season 4 and hear the Nativity Story of Jesus, as told by featured Storyteller-Playwright-Author-Pastor Sonya Wallace Blair!

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Movin'

This is about spirit movin' through the physical
Born again, growing old and then
to explore again
spirit movin' on
traveling he said, to a city called Heaven
we're not bounded, shackled and hounded
by the grounds precious earth...no
we're spirit movin' higher 
than your minds eye desires to know...I grow...
after being born again
washed in the blood again
cradled in Gods love again
and again...and again...and again...
as I find my way back home again...spirit movin'

by Shonnese C.L. Coleman
First published in Revelation Art - POEMS

One Step to Freedom - Song

I want to shed my flesh

and walk in their flesh

and feel the road they paved

there's just no awards great enough

for all they sacrificed and gave

by Shonnese C.L. Coleman

First recorded for the CD Precious Time 

More than enough

May the HARVEST be bountiful
May the FEAST feed many
May the giving be thoughtful
but may your LOVE be plenty

by Shonnese C.L. Coleman

Child of God

If I wasn't rock-solid,
there might be a reason
for me to crumble, crack or deteriorate...
but I'm rock-solid
If I wasn't washed in the blood of the Lamb,
one could assume I have no faith...
but I'm washed in the blood of the Lamb
If I wasn't deeply committed
to change the condition of my people, or just 1 person,
you would understand why I have endured such suffering...
but I'm deeply committed
to change the condition of my people, or just 1 person
If I wasn't created to live and love and laugh
and forgive and finally live again,
then my purpose would be worthless...
but I was created and I will live and love and laugh
and forgive and finally live again
If I wasn't rock-solid, there might be a reason
for me to lose my way...but guess what my friend?
You just didn't know...I'm rock-solid

by Shonnese C.L. Coleman
1st published in The Stride of Our Walk...The Root of Our Stand A Collection of Performance Poetry

Sing Little Girl or Chante Ti Fi

Sing a song little girl
Chante une chanson petite fille
sing of dreams of hope
reaching from
while reaching for...
the pearl of the Antilles...
songs in the key of natural beauty,
high mountains, revolution
and tremors of the earth
moving my sugarcane melodies
pushing my voice west
jazzing my instrument
singing each song like a little girl...
without apprehension...for your consideration

by Shonnese C.L. Coleman

Consequences

Aroma of Flowers

Shiny Apples for two

but God said...not from that center Tree

so winding-slithery tricked me & you...

banished from beauty forever

by Shonnese C.L. Coleman

Mid-Life Cruise (an excerpt)

Undoubtedly, in the middle of your life

if blessed to experience that high-light in time,

the story or stories you tell yourself

will pave a promise of peace

or a promise of deterioration...

discern wisely, think on the better,

the best of and for yourself...to perhaps

just perhaps be a blessing to someone else

tell yourself that story and watch it bloom

by Shonnese C.L. Coleman

Crime

1st published in "The Stride of Our Walk...The Root of Our Stand" A Collection of Performance Poetry 2001

Come Ye (an excerpt)

What strength you hold 
in the palm of your hands
the stride of your walk
the root of your stand
Come Ye righteous Warriors
and make a bridge for me
What price will you pay 
for your soul to know freedom
the battle is a spiritual war
as sure as slavery is genocide
and homeless Africans 
is stolen pride, wake-up 
Jihad at your door...
Come Ye Warriors
Come Ye Soldiers
Come Ye Armies of God
Come Ye Men both young and old
I have carried the weight for too long
Come Ye like your Ancestors came
brave, bold & strong
Come Ye armies of God and chant a prayer for me
chant a prayer for me...chant a prayer for me...

by Shonnese C.L. Coleman (1st published in "The Stride of Our Walk...The Root of Our Stand" - 2001)

Sister Celebration (an excerpt)

Sisters celebrating
evolving and elevating
trailblazing and transcending
we are the beginning and the ending
Celebrating sisters so serious
our souls see inside sun-nurtured nations
kneeling in honor of she
she is sanctified rhythm walking on water
riding the tide turbulent sometimes
calling forth the spirits of ancestral fire
in the bodies of babies, grandmothers and we
We are sisters celebrating
uniting forces and creating beautiful things
masterful are you and me...

by Shonnese C.L. Coleman (1st published in "Revelation Art Poems" - 2008)

You can't steal my dance...

There will never be
a dance more powerful
a move more thrilling
a leap more heroic
spins more rapid
extensions more lengthy
back-bends more flexible
than the dance...that dance
that lives in your soul
that fuels your passion
and resolves your peace

by Shonnese C.L. Coleman

...in the beginning

From the Alpha to the Omega

at morning dew to midnight blue

In waters deep to skies unseen

I am one within the beginning

Forefather's energies command my soul

there is no room for fear

They take me to the land I have never walked

feed me slices of daystar I have never tasted

place me in the pocket of the moon

and cradle me 'til the morrow

I am one within the beginning

by Shonnese C.L. Coleman 

1st published in "The Stride of Our Walk...The Root of Our Stand" A Collection of Performance Poetry

The Few

You should know by now
those like we, we who believe
we who see...are the few
the far reaching...between...
loud and spacious...rooms 
we exist to assist...when you are quiet
exploring the corners of your mind
kind we are, you should know by now
those like we, we who believe
we who see...are the few
the few who will still 
kneel to take a stand

by Shonnese C. L. Coleman