Tell me Maya Lou
  How to be brave like you
Tell me Maya Lou
  Have you seen the news
Because I tell you Maya Lou
   It frightens me, this word
                                  this life
That shadow on the wall
  Just shot a man in the back
With hands up down the hall
It frightens me, the noise the hanmer made
  the life the bullet took away
The big man barks and bares his bullet
  teeth
The man laying on the ground
Watching his skin turn red
  Now a ghost on a big cloud
It frightens me, to see a life slip away
  without warrant or reason
Nothing has changed for Mother Goose
Throw another noose around the lions
  driving cars
     It looks too new
       It must not belong to you
It frightens me, wasn't he suppose to
   protect what he just destroyed
     turning a home into a house
       of joyless stone and wood
What magic or what charm
  can keep their lives safe
   from harm
There's a broken heart
   on my sleeve
For every life lost
For every tear shed
It's an ocean of grief
   and I can no longer
                            breath
Tell me Maya Lou
    I can hear you crying
                                   too
Tell me Maya Lou
   What would you say
      What would King dream
To keep the peace
  To calm the storm
To stop the bullets flying
  back and forth
   forth and back
Tell me Maya Lou
  where did we go wrong
    why is the world tearing
       itself open at the seams
It frightens me, the growing
  flames of hate burning both
    life and love
Tell me Maya Lou
  How to be brave like you
I tell you Maya Lou
Life frightens me...
  to tears
   to tears
Life frightens me...
     to tears

[2/6 22.08] SITO FOSSY BIOSA: Perempuanku yang Sendu, sebuah puisi.
[2/6 22.12] VINDA MAYA: Lantas Senja menenggelamkannya
[2/6 22.12] VINDA MAYA: Malam....dan hilang
[2/6 22.15] SITO FOSSY BIOSA: Kukan hilang pun bersamamu.
[2/6 22.19] VINDA MAYA: Bunga bunga layu itu jatuh ditaman berduri
[2/6 22.19] VINDA MAYA: Lalu ditelan angin berbisik
[2/6 22.21] SITO FOSSY BIOSA: Hujam Jantung, Hujan Rindu
[2/6 22.24] VINDA MAYA: Pilu....Berantakan....Tak terselamatkan
[2/6 22.27] SITO FOSSY BIOSA: Aku sengaja tak mau tahu tentang tuhan, sebaliknya, kau sepenuhnya kutelusuri sedalam hati.
[2/6 22.32] VINDA MAYA: Wajahmu ada di kening....rinduku sepanjang jalan
[2/6 22.32] SITO FOSSY BIOSA: Padaku?
[2/6 22.34] VINDA MAYA: Lalu pada siapa
[2/6 22.34] VINDA MAYA: Adakah selain bayangmu menyapa
[2/6 22.35] SITO FOSSY BIOSA: Lebur.
[2/6 22.36] VINDA MAYA: Berkeping-keping
[2/6 22.41] SITO FOSSY BIOSA: Tuntas.

(Geraldine, Maya, and Pedra were in the kitchen to drink some Jasmine Yin Zhen tea.)

Between Bosphorus and Dardanelles, the waters are calm.
Geraldine Said, ''I love the life at sea on this tall ship.''
Maya said, '' Let me see the meaning of the lines in your palm! ''
''I worked a lot; I can't feel my hands when something I grip.''

Maya insisted, '' Let me rub your hands with Gilead' balm! ''
''I can't stand the hustle and bustle of big cities.
Can you predict my future after reading my palm?
''You'll be surrounded by death coming from the waves' ditties.''

''What is this balm? '' '' It's an extract from the bakha shrubs.''
''Where did you find this shrub? '' ''This extract is brought from Chios,
Where this tree grows near the sea, to make this balm and drugs.
It's good for the stomach and prevents the skin infections.

I used it to make bread tsoureki.'' ''It's sweet, '' Pedra said,
''This tree excited the cupidity of invaders-
The groves of Jericho.'' Maya touched her, ''Are you afraid? ''
''Went there to fight Titus, Joshua and the crusaders.''

Pedra took a long look at her, ''Do you have children? ''
''I have two boys who live in southern Ottoman Empire.
My husband died.'' ''Why did you come here? '' ''I'm a poor woman.
Now, it’s war; I want to work here, not to walk through the fire.’’

(Maya left the kitchen. On the deck, Marco, Rosa, and Cruz stopped for a few minutes their walk to admire the Marmara Sea in approach to Çanakkale.)


''Anybody who wants to pass through the Dardanelles
Must pay a tax. So, we must sit at anchor in waiting
For an opening at this small Port of Çanakkale, ''
Said Cruz. '' About buying fuel, the ****** are still debating, ''

Said Marco.'' This city is placed on two continents.''
'' The shape of the strait is akin to that of a river.''
'' Its history started with Troy. The tidal currents
Make this time of wait at anchorage a deceiver.''


''The Dardanelles is the most dangerous waterway, ''
Said Rosa, '' Maya and Naimah are talking fiercely.''
Cruz said, ''They've seemed not to know each other until today.''
''What happened, Maya? '' ''He can't stop speaking viciously.''

(To be continued...)

Poem by Marieta Maglas

On the day
I was baptized,
I sat in the back pew
of my church,
weeping.

It took a long time
for me to arrive
on the bank
of the
River Jordan
that Day of
All Saints.

Flanked by my
two young sons
also getting
dipped
that day,
moved
me to
solemn
tears;
humbled
that I
would wade
into the living
waters
with my sons
as brothers
in the
Living
Christ.

My fount
of tears
rolled
cause
I finally
arrived
as one of
Gods
own.

Today
I saw
Maya Angelou
weep.

She received
The Presidential
Medal of Freedom.

She sat while the
President placed
it around her neck.

She did not rise to
receive it.

I think she was
sitting in a wheelchair.

She looked tired
but she was not feeble.

She was humble
yet remained unbowed.

Her eyes were closed
as they read a citation
about her; yet I know
her vision remains
keen.

She did not look up.

She quietly wept.

The President kissed
her cheek after
he clasped the award
around her neck.

Maya Angelou
never
looked up.

She just
wept.

Maya,
fellow award
recipient
John Lewis
and
their
son
Barack
Obama
have
arrived;
sitting at
America's
table
of freedom,
as
Maya Angelou
gently
weeps.


2/15/11
Oakland
jbm

My heart is heavy today at the loss of such an incredible inspiration to the arts community. Her poetry is the reason I was inspired to write, to be who I am destined to be, and to always live and fight for what I believe in. Maya Angelou wasn't just a poet, she was a movement, providing never ending insight and knowledge to the community and marching along with us during the civil rights. Maya Angelou, what a dent your absence will leave behind, but what a beautiful picture painted words you have left us. I had always dreamed of meeting you one day, but now I know that day will never come (at least in the physical world anyway). Thank you Maya Angelou for your knowledge, your strength, and your never ending guidance. You showed us the world through a different pair of eyes and it is that reason I now know why the caged bird sings!

Rest Peacefully Dr. Maya Angelou!