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My Daddy (dedicated to Dr. Joe L. Caldwell-Nov. 25, 1947: Mar. 8, 2010)

In a world where absentee fathers
Run faster & go farther
Than first round draft pick
NFL starters
I was just trying to run harder than my daddy
Every Saturday
Outside the library of Tulane University
See, that was a ritual for him & me
Then he, would go study
And I would go exploring
True story, I used to watch my stories on the 3rd floor
Where they kept the TVs
And after "All My Children"
I spent the rest of my day reading
On the floor sitting Indian style
Between the Secondary Education & English Lit isle
I was a professor's child
And in between classes and educating the masses
He found time to raise me
Race me
Even amaze me
By simply being, my daddy
Born within a parish of a city within a city (aka the country)
This name sake of a prize fighter
Son of a sharecropper
Husband to a show-stopper
And the greatest father
To his son and daughter since Bill Cosby
My daddy, with the soul of a soldier coming "Up From Slavery”
Body weak from life's ills but, heart full of bravery
He was my everything
And the blueprint for what every man should be
See, most people idealized their favorite celebrity
But, my daddy was A-List to me
A warrior on the battle field for his family
Never met a stranger and knew no enemy
Best known grio this side of the Mason Dixie
Used stories of his family as a teaching tool
And every student on campus thought my daddy was cool
Placed him on a pedestal
Perched up high
Amongst the Martins, Malcolms, Medgars and Fredericks of Heaven's freedom side
Which is why, I cry legacy tears
Whenever I think of the history he left here
And let me be clear
This isn't easy for me
I'm a 'daddy's girl'
And that man meant the world to me
He was more than just Professor Caldwell
He called me his road dog
And he was my homie
My mentor
My daddy
My hero
And I'm a miss all the places
We used to go
And I'm a miss the way he would challenge me
And well daddy,
"I know I act a fool
But, I promise that one day
I'm going back to school”
And I promise that one day
My kids WILL know you, Paw Paw, Ma'Dear and Big Momma too
I promise to continue doing what you do
Educating the masses
Holding onto moments in between classes
And to anybody asking
"I'm hanging tough"
Just tryna make it through
By leaving my footprints and making my own rules
And I'm taking care of momma just like you asked me too
Daddy, I love you
And I’ll miss you till I'm with you
But, I'm happy for you
Because Heaven just got a new angel
With wings of purple & gold
Dr. Joe Louis Caldwell
The greatest story God ever told

What Life is Like

Sometimes, I feel like
Life is real like
August the 29th
Or Emitt Till like
Jesus is real
Like Israel
Like is he real
Or could he feel
Like we could chill
Like we'd be real
Like Jada and Will
Or Oprah and TP
But, he don't see me
Still I stay breezy
And I be easy
Sumthin like Lil Weezy
Or Kanyeezy
Even Young Jeezy
Cuz, "I Put On For My City"
Reppin Big Easy
Born in the 9th
Raised in the UPT
See, I be goin on like
"Man, I hope y'all feel me"
Not like Kirt Cobane
More like Purple Rain
Remember Soul Train?
Or John Coltrane?
Or when Jill Scott sang?
Or when freedom rang
It's like gold rope chains
Or slave chain gangs
Like the sound of a man
Working on chain, gang
Or the sound of your man
Working just to stay, sane
Like a head above water
Like my dad's daughter
Or Shawn Carter
"I hustler homey"
Just ask my mother
I can rock a fella
Like Barack can sell a
Dream to a fiend
Make 'em wanna come clean
And make it all seem
Like it was pre-desteened
Or pre-destined
Like my best friend
Like African
Like this world is mine
Like one poem at a time
Like it's still a poem
Though the words don't rhyme
Like it's still a storm
Though the sun's gone shine
Like if I don't write
Then I don't live
And if I don't fight
Then I don't give
A damn about community
I'm serious 'bout this unity
I'm rearing up the youth to be
The leaders of this future
See, its gotta start with you and me
So, we gotta spark a new beginning
Cuz, I can't feel you
If I don't heal me
See, some days I feel like crying
And some nights I feel like dying
But, each day I wake up trying
And I'd be straight up lying

If I said these times weren't trying

Like the blood on diamonds

Like the flood and Don Imus

Pulling the rug over my eyes is

Like a flood of FEMA lies

Is like drugs dropped from the skies

Is like love within the skies

Is like love within their eyes

Is like love within a lie

Is like love even when they lie

Is like love even when they lie

Is like love

Like love

Even when life runs dry

(c) All rights reserved

I Remember

I remember

Second lines and penny candy
Project block parties and St. Mark's dances
Corner stores and corner whores
Ducking out the back door
To skip chores
And G-Nikes and street fights
And street lights would keep night
From beating us home
Home grown on neck bones and collard greens
Cat fish, fried chicken, and red beans
With rice, it was nice
But at what price

My rights?
My lights?
My life?

Now I'm trife cuz a hurricane took away my property
One stormy Monday



I remember

Fat Tuesday and Super Sunday
Funeral processions on Burgundy
Fish plates from Broadmore
Po-boys on Chef Menteur
Making groceries at Shcwegmann's store
And calling out your ward
Like, "five, four"

I remember

Opened flood doors
Were way more than what they bargained for like
Swollen doors and mold up from the floors

Inflated bodies
Too many casualties
And all they wanted was a little more money

But it's too many dying
Too many crying
And not enough lying

I remember

The Joy and Eastlake
Motor bikes on the Lake
Talent shows at St. Mary's
High school sororities and fraternities
And Gregory D!
Davy D, Lonnie and Mannie
Rob Fresh and Raj Smoove
Big Cheese krushin' groove
DJ, DJ Money Fresh, Wop
And Jubilee, Dynamite Dave Soul, Captain Charles
And ya boy, Wild Weezy!

Club Big Easy and Prime Time
Rumors, Nexus, Velocity and The Bottom Line, on Monday
Whispers on Thursday
And House of Blues every Sunday

I remember

Riverboat Hallelujah and Bonaparte Place
Dooky Chase and fat shoe laces
Monogram name plates and apple rings
These are more than just a few of my favorite things
More than just a fading memory
Cuz see, when I say "Stop. Pause."
If you aint from where I'm from
Not even Anthony Hamilton can sing you a clue
So I'mma "make it do what it do" and tell you
Nobody knows what it means
To miss New Orleans like I do
Cuz this is more than just a city
Where my house sits
It's, my heart beat
And even the pot holes in the streets are sweet
And just like "You can't beat Wagner's Meat"
You can't take the N.O.
From the soul of me
See, I'm a Uptown soldier
Little bit of a hard head
From being 7th ward bred
And just enough of that nine
In my spine
So, I don't mind dyin'
But, "aint no love
In the heart of city"
With no culture
And no people
This is gospel
I'm saying a mouthful
But my heart is empty

Cuz, I remember

July and November
Frankie Beverly, Southern and Grambling State University
Black people in unity
Dressed to impress
And putting all kinds of money
Back into the community
Cuz aint nothing greasy
About this Big Easy but the chicken
See, we family
We got Nan Nans, Paw rans
And play cousins
School kids on corners playing dozens
And "nigga knockin"
And only when the gumbo pot thickens
Do you know your Grandma done put her foot in it

Yes, I remember

The joy and the pain
The sunshine and the rain
And no hurricane will take the main vein from the artery of this country

So please, save the babies!
Raise the levee
My heart's so heavy
But my pen stay steady
So, I'mma "get it ready
Get it ready
Get it ready, ready"
So we can all come home

Cuz, I remember the Dome
And the Convention Center
The French Quarter and the FEMA water
And I don't want my daughter or son, to be
To only have that image of my city
I want them to create their own memories
So that they may grow
Grateful to be from the N.O.
And quick to let anyone know

From the Square in the Congo
To the Indian battles outside of Joe's
We are a special kind of people
Born under the Cajun moon Lullabies sung to voo doo blues tunes
Sons of Moses
Daughters of Oshun
From the Beignet to the Etoufee
Flora's and the Hard rock Cafe
Fridays at True Brew
the Square on Sunday
And the "Jockamo Fi Na Ne"
Come soon, come soon that day

Cuz, I remember.

(c) All rights reserved