When I think of you, I think of warmth…

Like the warmth of a baby’s breath
or that of the sun when it greets the earth
as it rises for the daily morning kiss

When I think of you, I think of sweetness…

Like the sweetness of a mother’s milk
as she lactates for the first time
or the juice from a peach
as it trickles down my throat during the summer

When I think of you, I think of strength…

Like the strength of 45 million people
who did not abide to the attempt of genocide,
still breathing, living, moving

When I think of you, I think of genius…

Like the prolific genius of Baraka, L'Ouverture,
Garvey, Seales, Walker, Scott, Ellison,
Wright, Cleaver, Shabazz

When I think of you, I think of millions…

Like the millions of lives that have been forever changed
by Queen Mother’s Brooks, Davis, Angelou, Mandela,
Hurston, Shange, Hooks, and Richardson

When I think of you, I think of music…

Like the reverberating rhythms of Erykah, D’Angelo,
Bahamadia, Thelonious, Billie, Teddy, Sadie, Marvin,
Anita, Common, Jill, Frankie, Miles, Betty, of Mother Africa

When I think of you, I think of love…

Like the love of a thespian for her books,
of a scientist for his theorems,
of a king for queen a queen for her king,
of a mother for her child, of God for all that he has created

If God made man in the image of Himself…

Then when I think of you,
I think that you my brother
are the perfect reflection
of the greatness that He intended

Warm…warm…warm