I Wanna Hear A Poem by Stephen Colman

A repost from a time prior. As a poetry writer and attendee of poetry slams, I used to like watching Def Poetry Jam. This particular piece was from a poet whose poem I really liked.

I Wanna Hear A Poem

I wanna hear a poem

I wanna learn something

I didn’t know

I wanna say “YES" at the end because I’m sick of saying “so?"

I wanna hear a poem about who you are and what you think and why you slam

not a poem about my poem – cause I know who I am.

I wanna hear a love poem

A sad poem

An "I hate my dad" poem

A dream poem

An "I'm not what I seem" poem

An "I need" poem

An "I also bleed" poem

An "I'm alone" poem

An "I can't find my home" poem

I just wanna hear a poem!

I wanna hear a poem about revolution

About fists raised high

And hips twisting in a rumble like a rumba

I wanna follow the footsteps of Chè

And hear the truth about the day the CIA killed the mumba

I wanna hear a poem about struggle

So that when I open my mouth I can step outside myself

I wanna listen to no less than the sound of protest

In the factories where workers sweat and make Air Jordans and Pro Keds

Because if you want to take shots at people

Target Phil Knight and Bill Gates

Contemplate how they own the products

And they got the goods

How they act like they care

But they’re just Robin Hoods.

And because every second matters

I wanna hear long poems and short poems

About time and its limits

Because it took less than three minutes to attack Abner Louima

To frame Assata Shakur and destroy Hiroshima

To kill Eleanor Bumpers and Anthony Baez

To gun down Malcolm with bullets they bought from the Feds

I wanna hear a poem where ideas kiss similes so deeply that metaphors get jealous

Where the subject matters so much

That adjectives start holding pro-noun rallies at City Hall

Because I wanna hear a poem that attacks the status quo

That attracts the claps of the cats with the Phattest flows

That makes the crowd pass the hat

And pack my cap with a stack of dough

I wanna hear a poem that makes this audience yell "ho"

Because I wanna guess your favorite color

Then craft rhyme schemes out of thin air

I wanna hear a poem about why the statute of limitations for rape is only five years

I wanna hear a poem

I wanna feel a poem

I wanna taste a poem

Give ME your spot on the mic if you wanna waste a poem

I wanna

Hear A

Poem

—Stephen Colman