Frankie is Savoy

Savoy

Behold!
Frankie is Savoy. The bond
Of silence is upon him.
Old
And deep with memories, of slights and scorn,
And trampled on, yet all untamed;
All aged now, yet unbowed, --
The master of the young dance's prime,
Whose rhythms still laugh at Time,
And lifts to heaven the joy of movement,
Rests satisfied upon his fame.

Who shall say:
I taught swing to fly;
And fought abroad to preserve a freedom
I did not have at home,
Give it all up for family and community,
Then returned to teach the world to swing?

Yea, voices mutter about idle comparisons;
Singing of fast feet and celluloid fame,
New-born and known but yesterday.

--"Rhythm in Exile", Eshu Obatala

a year has passed
and still
the sky weeps

--tm

isle of outlawed dreams

on the isle
of outlawed dreams
at the end
of the rainbow
there the evening
sun rests

-tm

the muse teases

on writing poems

to me it flows in spurts
the muse teases and teases
then she abandons