dear michael / would you believe it
congress stood for you today
& not just the coloured section
the whole goddamn fucking chamber
you might have guessed by now
mike / that jesse jackson made them
bt i swear / for real / we heard
no whisper of objection
oh michael / wz the least we
all could do / sixty seconds
quiet / for lifetimes
of what we did to you / oh
little michael / who brought salvation
back / little michael
witnessing the streets / jehovah
come in a five inch afro
& size ten bell-bottom jeans
all shook our heads & stood
for you / little michael
silent / not knowing
wz the worst that we could do
cz all yr life folk stood around
& watched / here comes little michael
everybody shhh check out
what he can do
oh / michael / would you believe it
today congress stood for you
same old little michael / nobody
spoke / we found gabriel in
that voice of yours / & looked past
the empty eyes / childhood
locked up / behind a thug on
a tour bus / nobody spoke up
& little michael / a tired
twelve-year-old / sold
platinum / how ‘bout that
everybody wz sayin
little michael / y’know
small black boy with the
hair / cute smile / sings
that song / ABC & somethin
‘bout salvation
oh / little michael
congress stood for you today
& not just the coloured section
the whole goddamn fucking chamber
spoken word 'bourne
Ok, crying now.
ReplyDeleteMe too. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI'm sick to death right now at the pink cotton candy outpourings from people of the likes of Madonna. Your poem sums it up- what the hell did the world do to that little boy just because he had talent? And now a new circus will begin splaying his life out before the curious to be dissected and criticised. We didn't let him live, any chance we might let him die?
ReplyDelete(Excellent poem BTW. )
A moving tribute, Maxine. You know, when I ran away from home all those years ago I took a cassette of the Jackson Five with me and played 'Goin Places' over and over 'til I stretched that tape to billy-o. I've been missing him for the last few years. Damnit.
ReplyDeleteThanks guys.
ReplyDeleteAngela: honoured to have you visiting!
Simonne & Lauri: thanks for the comments & the links.
Lauri: you worded that so well. It's appalling. Absolutely appalling. In the coming months we will, of course, see tabloids rushing for exclusive interviews with crime scene examiners, family members, Michael's primary school teacher...commemorative editions & so on & so forth
Maekitso: As I read your comment, the lyrics for his song destiny (wz that a cover?) came to mind. 'If it's a rich life, I don't want it. Happiness ain't always material things...'
wonderful tribute to someone that was misunderstood by many.. although he achieved many things there was a sadness to his life as well
ReplyDeleteThe negative influence of the teachings of the Jehovah's Witnesses on Michael and his family have been either downplayed or totally ignored for as long as the Jackson Family has received public attention. For those readers who really want to know what life is like to be reared in the WatchTower Cult, nothing beats real world scenarios, and of real world scenarios, nothing beats actual civil and criminal court cases.
ReplyDeleteThe following website summarizes 900 court cases and lawsuits involving children of Jehovah's Witness Parents. The summaries demonstrate how JW Families rear their children and live life day-to-day. Also included are nearly 400 CRIMINAL cases -- most involving MURDERS:
DIVORCE, BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS, AND OTHER LEGAL ISSUES AFFECTING CHILDREN OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
http://jwdivorces.bravehost.com
Oh Michael, the voice of an angel indeed, and nobody but Michael and God knows Michael at all, and of all the stupendous art he sang, no matter how he was, is, will be depicted, he is still to me the little boy who sang to 'Ben' his pet rat.
ReplyDeleteYou've said it all, and he's humming, I'm sure ;)
JJones: interesting reading in the link indeed. The Jehovah's Witness thing has always fascinated me, particularly given the weird similaritied between the Jacksons & that other multi-billionaire black family of today (the Williams tennis sisters) are also tied up in it all.
ReplyDeleteRobert (unknownwriter) & Lorraine: Yes, his music was heavensent. I hate to focus only on the sadness in remembering him, but I could never see Michael Jackson in the now. He was always a little boy with sad eyes and a huge afro. Anything else was what we made of him.
Powerful, Maxine! Eric Burdon sang these words a long time ago, but I think they really apply to Michael: I'm just a soul whose intentions are good/ oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood.
ReplyDeleteCame over from Simmone's link. Very moving. Thanks. You captured the boy I'm mourning.
ReplyDeleteamen
ReplyDeleteEveryone was talking about privacy and respect when David Carradine's dead photographs were published in some Thai papers, but just see the news papers and televisions it is bombarded by jackson's life stories and his last photograph.
ReplyDeleteJackson's death has been commercialsed and nothing else.
Oh Maxine! The political stuff is not for me, as you can see from my comments :( But I keep coming back in the hope I get another poem like 'summer' or the obama poem. And here it is. Well worth waiting for. Thankyou.
ReplyDeletePerfect. Technically and in it's totally original and uncompromising tone. Some of fusion of wild street poet energy and deep craft and ponderation. Your poems are like balancing acts, breathtaking in their risk and exhilarating in their perfect execution.
ReplyDeleteFantastic. Thank you. (sophie c here by the way - couldn't get the comment thing to take my details).
ReplyDeleteTimoteo: too true.
ReplyDeleteybonesy: Thanks for travelling over & having a chat - and glad someone else remembers that small boy.
Mental Mist: Yeah, only this time, nobody has to ask 'can I get a witness'...everybody is still gaping.
Warrior Poet: you tell it straight, as usual.
Katie: Thankyou for coming back & wading through the politics, and glad you think it's worth the search :)
Paul: Wild street poet energy! Cool! Your review is glowing and I'm grateful, as always.
SophieC: Thank you, for visiting. Say hello to Spike for me.
Beautiful tribute poem... He will be missed.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful poem...yes, he will be missed.
ReplyDeletemaxine, a testament to yr power: i didnt care about michael jackson at all. he was an object of derision for me, despite the 2 or 3 gems of his that i (grudgingly) loved. but yr poem did what all the horseshit movies-of-the-week couldnt: made me care about someone i didnt. thank you, but no thanks for saddling me with these conflicting feelings, you goddamn poet.
ReplyDeleteAmazing poetry - I would love to hear you reciting this too. In my head, it's a foil for your obama poem - I'd get to hear another corner of your poetic spectrum (if there can be corners in spectrums?). While this is so much more serious and contemplative, both poems are similar in the style of a lament. Thank you...
ReplyDeleteI feel better now, you cursed in your poem. The preacher in me would say hush little darling but I wonder if we can go through life without saying a few bad words *wink*.
ReplyDeleteGreat poem.
Hey, I know your poems have copyrights. I would love to post this piece as a guest post. I don't have a large following but I think my friends here in the states would really appreciate this poem.
Thanks Cocoyea & Benjamin.
ReplyDeleteJason: glad I make you care, mission accomplished!.
Catherine: Nice to see you here. And you're right I gues, both this and the obama poem are celebrations of wonderful black men, in different ways (and no jokes here, please, though I kow you'dd al be itching).
Carey - no problem, you have copyright permission to post this as a guestpost on your blog,so long as it's copyright attributed, of course (c)Maxine Clarke, 2009. It would be an honour to share my work with your readers. And while we're at it, can I add you to my blogroll ? :)
Thanks Maxine, I'll be sure to do you justice.
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding me, it would be an honor to be a part of your blogroll. But as I told another of my friends that invited me to do a series of posts at her co-parenting site (you read them) ...be careful what you ask for :-). As you know, I can get a little crazy @ my blog.
What a truthful tribute to Michael...little michael. Thanks for creating and sharing.
ReplyDeleteHi Maxine, Ms. Meyer from Literary Minded sent me the link for this poem. I'm Lorette Luzajic, of www.thegirlcanwrite.net. I'm compiling an anthology on The Meaning of Michael. I'd love to run this piece with your bio!
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I have nothing to offer but hope you will find it a worthwhile project nonetheless. I'm putting it together out of my own pocket and volition as a labour of love. I have quite a few wonderful professional writers on board for a diverse experience, as well as some new voices and a professional cover designer.
Please visit my site to see if you like my spirit. I look forward to hearing from you.
No need to post this, I just didn't see another way to contact you.
Blessings
Lorette