"Product Pitch"

I think they should wring me out
And sell me in a store.

I like Bed, Bath, and Beyond,
So we can go with that.
I’m pretty sure I’d be THE top selling product!

Put me on the top shelf,
‘Cuz I’m the best quality you can get.
What exactly am I?
I am the hope of the slaves,

The faith of the abolitionists,
The resilience of the civil rights activists:
I am Black excellence.
I’m not a hair color, type, or grade;
I’m not a specific color nor creed;

But I AM excellent.
I was created to succeed.
I was created to empower.
I was created to persevere.
And yet, they haven’t captured this essence

In a bottle to sell to the masses!
Why not? I’m asking that, too!
It’s needed, because if not there
Would be no need for tanning beds.

Would there be? Answer me, pale woman!
Oh PLEASE answer me, Mr. Olympia!
Because you slather yourselves in

A brown, shiny substance to make your better-than-average
Bodies look even better on a stage.

Sounds familiar, no?
Man, put me on the shelf, Mr. Marketing Manager!

Your skin is a little pale, too.
Let me slather you like you did great-great granddaddy.

"Kinetic Combustion"

Two paths:
Seemingly divergent, slightly parallel,
But not juxtaposed to the destination
Of either.
Until a hurricane of Kids
Blew their autumnal leaves and
United their paths as one.
Who shall lead?
Or will this new trace be inundated
With the footprints of them both?
It is glorious in nature,
Strong as the trees that canopy
The canvas of the forest of Ecstasy.
The master artist paints a new song,
A new vision, that neither path fathomed
Could be so magical alone.
But together:
The horizon that beams from the sun's rays
Of comfort through the shade of the naysayer's trees
Is now a sigh that, together, is a new beginning.
A syncretic transparency.

[KLJII4122013]