Welcome to this week's Poetically Yours. Poetically Yours showcases poems by northern Illinois poets. This week's episode features Christopher D. Sims.
Sims is from the West Side of Rockford and first shared his poetic gifts onstage at Haskell Elementary School, thanks to Dorothy Paige-Turner.
Rooted in Black joy and celebration, his poems wind through the landscapes of this country's past and present. He hopes they will inform, engage, and entertain. Sims, who originally wrote rap and hip-hop lyrics, said his poetry has a bebop cadence. In this episode, Sims sums up his feelings about Juneteenth.
Not Another Juneteenth Poem
Justice. Jargon
about the journey
slaves had, slaves
made. How did slaves
in bondage make their
way to freedom?
The Emancipation
Proclamation freed some,
but not all of the slaves
immediately. Repeatedly,
we ask for reparations in
a torn nation, for DEI,
for an anti-racist country,
for equity, we, our allies
collectively.
Selectively, the numbers
are dwindling regarding
who wants to have a
real conversation
about anything
concerning the
people, the slaves,
history, who built
this country.
This is not another
Juneteenth poem.
This poem is about
recognition. The truth,
The whys and the whos,
a people who consistently
sings the blues.
A continuation of stories
of a people fighting for
dignity, to be seen, human
rights, a people’s fight, glory.
Not a plight of a poet
with insight who persists
to write about the past
where the ghosts of
generations ago last
in modern dialogue
about a people’s
real contributions.
What are today’s solutions?
How will or when will my people
stop being othered, but truly seen?
What does freedom really mean?;
why are we still dealing with the
most extreme efforts to not be
quote unquote woke? How long
will we hold on to hope?
The ancestors have spoken
through me with the carving,
crafting of this poem, this honesty
deep.
Through them, through their
journeys, their struggles,
our struggles, I speak, I speak,
I speak for justice, for our
universal recognition, for human
rights, for our constant fight,
for Juneteenth.
© Christopher D. Sims
April 11th, 2024
