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KURTIS LAMKIN pretty summer day grammama sittin on her porch easy rockin her grandbaby in her wide lap ol men sittin in their lincoln tastin and talkin and talkin and tastin young boys on the corner milkin a yak yak wild hands baggy pants young girls halfway up the block jumpin that double dutch singin their song kenny kana paula be on time cause school begins at a quarter to nine jump one two three and aaaaaaah. . . round the corner comes this young woman draggin herself heavy home from work she sees the young boys sees the old men but when she sees the girls she just starts smilin she says let me get a little bit of that they say you can't jump you too old why they say that o, why they say that she says tanya you hold my work bag chaniqua come over here girl i want you to hold my handbag josie could you hold my grocery bag please kebè take my purse she starts bobbin her head, jackin her arms tryin to catch the rhythm of the ropes and when she jumps inside those turning loops the girls crowd her sing their song kenny kana paula be on time cause school begins at a quarter to nine jump one two three and aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah she jumps on one leg -- aaaaah she dances sassy saucy -- aaaaah jump for the girls mama jump for the stars mama jump for the young boys sayin jump mama! jump mama! jump for the old woman sayin -- aww, go head baby and what the young girls say what the young girls say aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah "the million man march" we do right we do wrong we do time overtime we do what it takes to shake the snake that coils around our humble lives whatever we can do we do we do lunch we do meetings we do fundraisers we do marches we send a million men to carry peace to the heart of a cold cold nation some say we don't count we do we always do suppose there's a god who thinks that we are god who loves us so deeply she followed us here we work so hard every trick looks like a miracle and then we name the trickster god if there is a god who thinks that we are god do we hear her prayer do we? in the deep dark hour when we are all alone what is that sound what is that prayer what is this faith we do How do you "shake the snake / that coils around our humble lives"? Questions 1. Kurtis Lamkin's performances often vary considerably from the printed texts of his poems. How might the context of each performance figure in these variations? Would you regard the printed or the performed version as primary? Why? 2. If the kora can talk, what do you hear it saying in Kurtis Lamkin's performance of "the million man march"? 3. In what ways could our nation be seen as "a cold cold nation"? 4. In what ways does "jump mama" honor the spirit of community? Activities 1. Review the performances of Coleman Barks, Amiri Baraka, and Kurtis Lamkin, paying attention to how each uses a rhythmic, musical background. Apply what you have learned as you perform poems -- by these poets or by others -- over a rhythmic, musical background. 2. With a group of others, research the Million Man March. Why did it occur? Why was it controversial? How did others who attended respond to it? Compare your findings to Kurtis Lamkin's poem. Discuss your findings with your research group. 3. Find an instrument that "talks, for real" to you, then read a poem (perhaps one of your own) to its sound. 4. Use a childhood rhyme or game to start a poem. |
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