Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire
  • omnibus

Opportunity’s Autumn Burial
Bill Quigley
08 Oct 2008

Opportunity’s Autumn Burial

by  Kemet Mawakana

 

Click the flash player below to hear this work performed by the Seven Foot Poet

{mp3}poetry/104_7ft_autumn{/mp3}

 

If leaves could fly

 

          Would they fall prey to the wind

 

                   Accept their fate and simply give in?

 

 

If leaves could fly

 

          Would they have already left

 

                   Or remain beholden to branches that promise freedom

 

The week after next?

 

If leaves could fly

 

          Would they remember

 

                   Those before them that died in past Septembers?

 

 

If leaves could fly

 

          Would the reminisce

 

                   On days of hanging onto hopes of false bliss?

 

 

So I leave you now with one thought left

 

          If leaves don’t try to fly

 

                   The fall brings certain death.

 

 

 

By Kemit Mawakana (aka The Seven-Foot Poet)

Peace (when appropriate) War (when necessary)

                             Copyright 1996.

 

Kemit Mawakana (aka “The Seven-Foot Poet”) is a highly acclaimed spoken-word artist, and has published two books A . . . Z . . . InfinityCrucifixion of My Soul.  The collective body of his works presented in www.blackagendareport.com and www.voxunion.com are in tribute to Listervelt Middleton, Dr. John Henrik Clarke, and “For The People”.  Currently, he is a facilitator at AYA Educational Institute (www.ayaed.com) in Atlanta, Georgia and can be reached at [email protected].

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles. Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    POEM: The Beirut Jokebook, June Jordan, 1982
    25 Jun 2025
    “What did the Arab lady say to the Israeli tank?”
  • x
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    The Tactical Failure of Israel/U.S. Attacks on Iran Is Leading Both to a Strategic Disaster
    25 Jun 2025
    The U.S. and Israel’s unchecked aggression has plunged the world into a lawless state of imperial violence—yet their latest attacks on Iran have only exposed the limits of colonial power. As Western…
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Rwanda: Victoire Ingabire Must Not Suffer the Fate of Kizito Mihigo
    25 Jun 2025
    Kizito Mihigo and Victoire Ingabire both challenged Rwanda's foundational genocide narrative. He died in jail, and she is now in custody.
  • Jon Jeter
    Unable to Reinvent Itself, Dems Can’t Capitalize on Trump’s Missteps
    25 Jun 2025
    The Democratic Party is in crisis—divided, broke, and struggling to counter Trump’s agenda despite growing public backlash. Internal battles over strategy and leadership have left the DNC paralyzed.
  • Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    There’s Plenty Left in New York City, and the Democrat Establishment is Shook
    25 Jun 2025
    Zohran Mamdani’s upset over Andrew Cuomo in NYC’s mayoral primary has cracked the Democratic machine’s decades-long grip, proving grassroots organizing can muscle out billionaire financing and…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us