Say Word

Word Life
By J. Grant

It’s only a word
Words can’t hurt you
Words have no power
Words are just that, words.

If words have no power, no one would care about Shakespeare or Giovanni
No one would care about Angelou or Baraka,
Frost or Fitzgerald
Who would need a Richard Wright or James Baldwin…?
Sonia Sanchez or Langston Hughes…
Zora Neale or Gwendolyn Brooks
Because poets would be unnecessary
And poems couldn’t be used as weapons to the armless
And songs would not be used as soundtracks to rebellion
No one would sit down and listen to a song and say,
“I can feel that”
I can feel Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith
I can feel Marvin and Stevie and Smokey
And Aretha and Ella…
Sing about the highs and lows of love and life
But no one would feel that because words are just that, words.

But words have life, and love doesn’t come from your words

How you gonna say that? You know I got love for you, nigga…
I love you so much, I call you my nigga.

Love, Black man? Love?
Then love me, Black man
Love me like your brother
Your blood
Your twin
Your son
Your cousin
Your nephew
Your heart
Your friend

Show me that love you speak of
That love, that great love my brother has for his brother

Love, Black man, love!
Understand it and breathe life into it.

2006 J.A.G. Productions (c)