Welcome to my poetic planet!
Greetings I’m still waging peace through poetry and representing multi-talented artivists, educators and empaths, who believe words and dialogue matters.
Before I share a new poem celebrating more harmony and Black History in 2024, let’s congratulate Beyonce Knowles, in the spirit of ujima or collective work! Aaaa, yes that’s me posing next to her majesty at the Madame Tussauds Hollywood wax museum. If you think I look like Beyonce but I want to write like Tracy Chapman. Yasss! Both (s)heroes made this month dedicated to history makers one to remember.
First off, I’m cynical about award shows, but a Tracy Chapman sighting at the Grammy’s singing “Fast Car” , was like spotting a unicorn on stage. Her eyes still sparkling with wisdom. I also want to give a shout out to Luke Combs for honoring Tracy with such reverence.
The other recent number one on the country chart is Beyonce’s “Texas Hold ‘Em.” I actually like it. But I’m sad that derogatory language and vulgarity is still all the crave. When I heard her drop the word I thought of that line in “Amen,” when I say, “As long as a woman sees herself as less than, a man doesn’t have to be more.”
Tracy Chapman and Bob Marley are the two musicians and social justice advocates I tribute in my book She Rose. And with Marley’s movie breaking box office records this year, I’m reminded why I became an artist and activist years ago.
Now the only country song I remember learning in elementary school was “Coming around the mountain” and when I saw the title of Beyonce’s second single on this album, I remembered the six white horses in my youth. I also took note of the time of the album’s release, and well, my pen started penning about the two means of transportation. “Fast Car” and “16 Carriages” are songs about the journey, yet both trailblazers took different routes to reach the top of the Billboard, and they come from different economic backgrounds.
Which reminds me of more cinematic artivism in the theatres. Have you seen Origin? It a must see for freedom fighters along with the film One Love in honor of Bob Marley. Lastly, American Fiction is equally thought provoking for creatives who desire to maintain our dignity but also need dollars. One of my most recent poems speaks about the internal battle we all face between the “Ego vs Soul.”
This is my 16-line poetic response to Tracy Chapman and Beyonce taking us on a wild ride across the country charts this month.
16 Carriages and A Fast Car
By Venus Jones
Queen B and her “16 Carriages”
are coming around the mountain.
Tracy paved that way strumming
lucrative lyrics like a fountain.
She was talking about revolution.
Protesting for the poor and oppressed.
Today she got nothing to prove.
Queen B desires that same deep rest.
Will a queen keep on surviving
despite death being the symbol of a pale horse?
Will Tracy keep on driving us to tears
despite her symbol of a “Fast Car?” Of course.
Tracy’s an outcast that journeyed 30 years.
Queen B followed suit; across country, real swift.
One traveled in wind and the other in reign.
And so we say both names. Catch my drift?
I loved seeing Tracy Chapman on the stage during the Grammy’s! I still have two of her albums (on vinyl) from my high school days, and “Fast Car” is a song I have used in my poetry unit over the years. Great to see it reaching new ears – and to see another generation discovering her amazing music and voice. I’m also a big Bob Marley fan – on one of my most memorable college trips with a group of eight students to the Navajo reservation in Arizona, we only had to old cassettes – one of his music, and one of the Beatles. “Don’t Worry About a Thing” will ALWAYS remind me of that amazing trip. I really haven’t listened to much of Beyonce’s music, but I clearly know she has her multitudes of fans. I like how your poem draws connections between carriages and cars!