Babylon look ‘pon I with disgust and fear

And turn their faces with no care

For me passion and dedication for Jah.

I and I wear dreadlocks with pride

From the depths of the red earth
I emerged
A feral in light
An unknown in darkness
Cursed with the burden of life …
And death
I am woman
An entity devoid of simplicity

MORE OF SHYLOCK’S WISDOM
“If a Jew wrongs a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge! If a Christian wrongs a Jew, what should his suffering be by Christian example? Why revenge?

Immanuel, a well-kept lad of seven

Grew up with lots of books and his eyes on heaven.

O reason, who fathered the wise?

All through the day, he sat on grandfather’s chair

Wretched old playwright
Wrinkled wrist wrapped while writing
Wrestling with answers
Wreath and sword wriggle in hand
Ancient playwright ...awry wrath

If you listen
You will hear
The cries of the unborn child
Serenading the innocent, gullible youth
Clinging to the walls that use to protect her
Listen!
Shush!
Do you not hear her?

My Isaiah,
Did you listen
When the stillness and solitude of my heart-
Awaken by the infinite grace in your voice-
Beseeched your heart to become one with mine?
Did you listen?

Again and again, I give up part of me
I let them in ...these people I do not know
These people who have seen my heart, and my thoughts
Those who know of my fears and joys. THEY SEE ME.

The sun sleeps early tonight.

The birds now depart from flight,

Creatures awake, choruses to

Sing, homes to make, humans too

Awake, to remove their masks,

They lie in the most unusual places,
The old cabinet, the locked draw, the faces
You meet; your heart and your mind.
In time, they feed on you demanding more each

I walked through these very walls with you once
Never knowing the name you kept till this day
And the pain you hid from others so well.
In silence now, I've wondered what you did feel,

See the siren as she comes to my window
Flapping her clipped colored wings -
Her feathered instrument
And opening a pathway to let them out -
These colored melodies hidden deep within her.

When the sound of rushing water meets the
Whispering of green leaves, and the sound of
Quick footsteps on dry leaves, and the sweet, sweet
Melody of the black birds up ahead,

When the sound of rushing water meets the
Whispering of green leaves, and the sound of
Quick footsteps on dry leaves, and the sweet, sweet
Melody of the black birds up ahead,