"You're Welcome, Lady, Thank You"

dreams

in my younger years
before i learned
black people aren’t
suppose to dream
i wanted to be
a raelet
and say “dr o wn d in my youn tears”
or “tal kin bout tal kin bout”

or marjorie hendricks and grind
all up against the mic
and scream
“baaaaaby nightandday
baaaaaby nightandday”

then as i grew up and matured
i became more sensible
and decided i would
settle down
and just become

a sweet inspiration

Nikki Giovanni, From Black Feeling Black Talk/Black Judgement (1968)