Zora and the Haiti Connection

This is a short video on Zora Neale Hurston and her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Ms. Hurston was an anthropologist, folklorist, historian, and writer to a name a few, but I am sure that there was more to her as a human being and a woman. Thank you, Ms. Hurston. 

Sunday Dreaming

Grandmother once told of Sunday afternoons when she could meet with a gentleman -- a gentlemen who was interested in seeing her on a regular basis.  This often took place sometime after church and Sunday dinner. 

In my active imagination, I envision the two meeting on the front porch on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Sitting in the swinging chair, the young man told her how pretty she looked in her pretty white dress.  He told her how sweet she smelled, and how he wished they could be alone in some place - a place that he would prepare for her someday.  He touches her hand and feels the softness of her skin as he runs his fingertips across her delicate knuckles.  The moment was so soft and sweet that he becomes drowsy with love.  He wishes they could be in that place that he wants for them.  They would fall asleep in a passionate embrace just after love has made its escape.

Photography and Story: The First Moment

I wanted to love you the first moment I saw you. I watched. What did I notice about you first? It was your face or maybe your eyes. No, I saw you from behind so it was your head and the shape of your hips. *blush* I later learned that your hair was cut short out of respect and honor of Abambo (father) who had recently passed away in South Africa. You later mentioned that your head is shaped like his. “He is from Malawi,” you said with a smile. I smiled. It was the shape of your head that caused me to remember a moment in time. At the time, I did not know that you were from the Bantu people, but the shape of your head reminded me of the Khoisan of the Kalahari (Bushmen). They are your ancestors, but I didn’t know. Where have I seen a head like that? Yes! I remember now! I saw your head once when I was flipping through a book about the indigenous people of the Earth. There was a photo of a beautiful Khoisan woman, who was confident and young. She was surrounded by the people of her tribe, and they were smiling. Her arms were stretched wide and her body was twisted towards the sun. Her head was turned over her shoulder and she was smiling as she admired her own steatopygic beauty that most of the Western world both desired and feared. That moment came back to me when I saw you. You reminded me of the woman in the picture. It was in the shape of your head and your lovely neck; it was your beautiful curves; it was in your black, sun-kissed skin, and beautiful face. I watched. I watched as you laughed and conversed with your friends and I knew at that moment that I would love you.

Photo Source:  SBess

Photo & Poem

Dawn

An angel, robed in spotless white,

Bent down and kissed the sleeping Night.

Night woke to blush; the sprite was gone.

Men saw the blush and called it Dawn.

~ Paul Laurence Dunbar

I got up one morning just to see the sunrise. This is only part of what I saw. Look, the sky is blushing! This poem by Dunbar was one of the first poems I memorized as a freshman in college. I used to recite this poem to girls on campus and they would smile and say, "that's so romantic." Nowadays, I recite my own poems to my wife and she says, "put it in a book, Bess!" Then, I smile say, "that's so romantic."

Hold My Purse

Shopping with the wife. Ladies...I implore you!

Photography: Ausi Maria

"...For thousands of years

My soul has roamed the earth

In search for you...

And now we give thanks

Give thanks for each other

At peace forever

For it is done"

Nina Simone (Excerpt from Consummation 1967)

Photo: Ausi Maria © S Bess
Definitions:
Ausi = the Sesotho word for sister
Sesotho = A Sotho language spoken in Lesotho, where it is the national language, and in South Africa, where it is an official language.

Haiku: First Time

Haiku # 1

Faint recollections

Sipping sweet mountain berries

Amid nuptial bliss

This is my first attempt at Haiku (correct syllabic form: 5-7-5). I was initially inspired by writer, RICHARD WRIGHT after learning that he wrote over 4,000 in the year before his death. Today, I was inspired by Sage-Petals after visiting her page. If you know Haiku I would love your honest feedback.

Photo: I took this photo of my wife the morning after our wedding night.

A Decent Proposal: June 3rd

Hey Baby
I was just thinking about you
On this rainy, cloudy Saturday in June
Remember when we use to race popsicle sticks
Along the curb after the rain
Folks must of thought us insane
Water flowing along this ghetto stream
As we screamed
Laughter permeating the overcast skies
Oblivious to judging eyes
I love this
I love you
Don’t rainy days make you want to…be with you?
You feel me?
I felt you on that rainy, cloudy Saturday in June
I asked you to marry me and you said soon
Come on baby
We can do this right now out here under that tree
Oya can be our witness!
She laughed and said,
Don’t you know that to be one in holy matrimony it takes three?
That’s you, the creator and me and that’s all there has to be
I smiled and said,
Hey baby, remember when we use to race popsicle sticks
Along the curb after the rain

EMIT

Good morning,

I was going through some things mentally this morning. Time? What is time? John Baldwin Buckstone said that time was made for slaves. I'm always thinking about it though. "What time is it?" "what time do I have to be there?" when is the right time to settle down?" "I'm getting older...my time is running out!" "It's about time you got here!" Man, I need to kill some time and just live! I need to stop thinking about time and just do it! I mean, whatever it is that I want to do. People are always talking about other people oppressing Them, but we oppress ourselves by becoming slaves to time and feeling like we can't do something because there's not enough time. Older people tell us that some things are before our time. Time ain't nothing but a Coo-Coo clock. Peace~