IT'S YOUR MUG ANNIVERSARY ISSUE Holly Bass   THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE: CHANGE October 2008 dust the dust off your black beret there’s hope for us yet hip hop horatio so audacious, bodacious grabbed by its nutsack its bootstraps stretching past historicity don’t hate biters who bang brighter than you this future is big enough for all the grubbers grabbers scrubs blue gums bushwhackers smack talkers and wack bamas too there’s no election without selection there’s no DNA without detection tell em we can CSI you, fool tell em we got black lights and special sprays oooooooo tell em peek-a-boo and spook a spook it’s nation time if you want spare change, get a spare job if you want a bouillon bailout cook some onions, make broth if you want a black president bring Fela back from the dead if you want wanting for what it’s worth don’t change a damn thing but whatever you do don’t ask for more than you can give and whatever you say, don’t deny part of you kind of liked it the way it used to be     BLACK BROADWAY for the 10th anniversary of the Movement poetry series I was walking down this lovely street called U also known as Black Broadway self-proclaimed world’s most jazziful byway checkin out the partays as the music slips under my skin This road so black and beautiful sidewalks wide make it easy for hips to glide gracefully as brothers sweetly croon… (to the tune of Moody’s Mood) “Can I go, can I go, can I go… Shorty, you are the one who makes me lose my control…” Well, it’s easy to dream when you’re feeling the scene a little jazz & gogo, jazz & gogo, jazz & gogo on U Street Sardines… and pork & beans! whaaaat? Sardines… and pork & beans! Some things change, some things stay the same Mango’s is Jin, Kaffa House is gone But Ben’s Chili Bowl and the Lincoln still stand strong Duke Ellington became a condo the Langston Room pays homage though and the Movement carries on with the jazz & gogo, jazz & gogo, jazz & gogo on U Street Sunny days, chasing the clouds away friendly neighbors where we used to play can you tell me how to get how to get to U Street   CALIFORNIA a jazz poem in the mode of Eddie Jefferson I was driving down the Junipero Serra also known as 280, self-proclaimed “World’s Most Beautiful Highway” checkin out the sun’s rays as they beamed off the hood of my car Looked into the rear view I saw a black-and-white steadily gaining no use complaining so I quickly complied pulled over to the side of the road where I was handed a ticket for simply enjoying my ride This road so black and beautiful, body wide makes it easy for your car to move smoothly on a Saturday ‘round noon… It’s easy to speed when you’re feeling the breeze and the California sun on a California highway… California highway… California highway… Golden hills frame this interstate scattered with stately, state-flower poppies bright orange bits of sun This view alone is my opiate and you can’t buy, abuse, snort or sniff this, cause it’s totally free It’s in the breeze. It’s the way we be’s It’s a Bay Area thing. We are Bay Area people. We gots hella swing. And you know it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that doo-da, doo-da, doo-doo, doo-da all the doo-da day... It’s easy to dream when you’re smelling the breeze of the Pacific Ocean... Pacific Ocean… great......wide......ocean… Yes, it’s a Bay Area thang so some of you might not understand But don’t question my authority, shorty I’ve been around the world and back Been to both coasts and I can tell you that there’s…No place like home, There’s no place like home, there’s no place like… San Jose (do you know the way…) Half Moon Bay, Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco This road goes where we go We go where this road goes My homegirl, Saudy, is sitting on the passenger side equally enjoying her ride because we both know getting there is half the fun If there’s no pleasure in your trip or your trip is pleasureless then take a tip from this hep chick and one) tune in your radio as soon as possible to 92.7 FM, KJAZ and just ride two) roll down your window some if the weather’s warm enough and just glide three) slip back your seat a bit and slide into the reverie that is jazz, Saturday, and highway 280… highway… 280… highway.     BARRICADES a song poem (chorus) damn all the barricades the levees broke down and the waters came you can’t tame no river, lawd and you can’t tame my restless heart (verse) water always seeks the path of least resistance it’ll never bow down to your insistence you can wail, cry and moan your broken song but you can’t change the rules of your own existence (verse) middle of the road, walking on dry land devil part the waters, turn the mud to sand you can claim you didn’t see what was right in yo’ face but you can’t close your eyes to this hell disgrace the hand of God met the hand of man …let go …let go the eye of the storm met the congo land …let go …let go the waters roll back the waters roll back damn all the barricades the levees broke down and the waters came you can’t tame no river, lawd and you can’t tame my restless heart you can’t tame my… ............................. Mississippi ............................. Alabama ............................. Louisiana you can’t tame my… ............................. red clay people ............................. dirt road people ............................. muddy water people you can’t tame my… ............................. delta blues ............................. sweet jazz ............................. big easy you can’t tame my restless heart Holly Bass is a writer and performer. A Cave Canem fellow, her poems have appeared in Callaloo, nocturnes (re)view, Role Call (Third World Press) and The Ringing Ear, an anthology of Black Southern poetry. Her work has been presented at respected regional theaters and performance spaces such as the Kennedy Center, the Whitney Museum, and the Experience Music Project in Seattle. She is one of twenty artists to receive the 2008 Future Aesthetics grant from the Ford Foundation/Hip Hop Theater Festival.   Published in Volume 10:2, Spring 2009.   Read more by this author: Holly Bass Holly Bass: Audio Issue Holly Bass: Langston Hughes Tribute Issue