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    I Wanna Hear A Poem: Selected Poems from 1997-2019
    I Wanna Hear A Poem: Selected Poems from 1997-2019
    I Wanna Hear A Poem: Selected Poems from 1997-2019
    Ebook98 pages1 hour

    I Wanna Hear A Poem: Selected Poems from 1997-2019

    By Steve Colman

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    About this ebook

    A flying grandmother, a struggling rapper, a namedropping revolutionary: The co-star of the Tony-Award winning Def Poetry on Broadway, Steve Colman, takes up subject matter that is both heartbreaking and humorous, mournful and merry. Each poem pulsates with the rhythms of a street poet or a hungry rapper or a sultry soul singer. Colman stands center stage to sing of love and revolution, race and identity as he explores the connections between his personal life and the beautiful, awful complicated history of America. Colman delivers these poems with all the passion of a performance poet committed to inspiring the reader to remember, reflect and take action.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherFat Laces Press
    Release dateOct 21, 2019
    ISBN9780578588629
    I Wanna Hear A Poem: Selected Poems from 1997-2019
    Author

    Steve Colman

    Steve Colman is a best-selling Broadway playwright, poet, performer, producer, and director. A member of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe championship slam team, Steve was the first poet to perform on Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry on HBO. As the inaugural poet of the series, Steve helped introduce the world to the burgeoning spoken word movement. He went on to co-write and co-star in the Tony® Award-winning Def Poetry on Broadway. A long-time creative collaborator of performance artist Sarah Jones, Steve co-conceived and assistant directed Sarah's Tony® Award-winning smash-hit solo show Bridge and Tunnel. Produced by Meryl Streep, New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood called Bridge and Tunnel “A sweet spirited valentine to New York City, its polyglot citizens and the larger notion of an all-inclusive America." Steve has produced theater, television and film projects for a variety of popular venues and major studios, including Warner Brothers Television, Paramount Television, HBO Films, Lemon Andersen's County of Kings with Spike Lee at The Public Theater.

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      Book preview

      I Wanna Hear A Poem - Steve Colman

      I Wanna Hear A Poem: Selected Poems from 1997-2019

      Steve Colman

      Published by Fat Laces Press, 2019.

      While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

      I WANNA HEAR A POEM: SELECTED POEMS FROM 1997-2019

      First edition. October 21, 2019.

      Copyright © 2019 Steve Colman.

      ISBN: 978-0578588629

      Written by Steve Colman.

      Table of Contents

      Title Page

      Copyright Page

      Dedication

      I Wanna Hear A Poem: Selected Poems from 1997-2019

      About the Author

      For Zinn and Gray

      I Wanna Hear A Poem  (1998)

      I wanna hear a poem

      I wanna learn something I didn’t know

      I wanna say ‘YES’ at the end

      because I’m sick of saying ‘so?’

      I wanna hear a poem about who you are

      and what you think

      and why you slam

      not a poem about my poem

      because I know who I am

      I wanna hear a love poem a sad poem an I hate my dad poem

      a dream poem an I’m not what I seem poem

      an I need poem an I also bleed poem

      an I’m alone poem an I can’t find my home poem

      I just wanna hear a poem

      I wanna hear a poem about revolution

      about fists raised high

      and hips twisting in a rumble

      like a rumba

      I wanna follow the footsteps of Che

      and hear the truth about the day

      the CIA killed Lumumba

      I wanna hear a poem about struggle

      so that when I open my mouth

      I can step outside myself

      I wanna listen to no less

      than the sounds of protest

      in the factories where workers sweat

      and make Air Jordans and Pro Keds

      because if you want to take potshots at people

      target Phil Knight and Bill Gates

      contemplate how they own the products

      and they got the goods

      how they act like they care

      but they’re just Robbin’ Hoods

      and because every second matters

      I wanna hear long poems and short poems

      about time and its limits

      because it took less than three minutes

      to attack Abner Louima

      to frame Assata Shakur

      and destroy Hiroshima

      to kill Eleanor Bumpers

      and Anthony Baez

      to gun down Malcolm with bullets they bought from the Feds

      I wanna hear a poem

      where ideas  

      kiss similes so deeply

      that metaphors get jealous

      where the subject matters so much

      that adjectives start holding pro-noun rallies at city hall

      because I want to hear a poem

      that attacks the status quo that attracts the claps of the cats

      with the phattest flows that makes the crowd pass the hat

      and pack my cap with a stack of dough

      I want to guess your favorite color

      then craft rhyme schemes out of thin air

      I wanna hear about why the statute of limitations for rape  is only five years

      I wanna hear a poem

      I wanna feel a poem

      I wanna taste a poem

      give me your spot on the mic

      if you wanna waste a poem

      I wanna hear a poem

      Waiting for the Ibis (1997)

      my Grandmother died

      and I laughed

      because she used to pee in the street

      and tell stories about shooting nazis from bell towers

      with nuns during lunch

      because she greeted each morning with a fart

      and encouraged me to do the same

      my Grandmother died

      and I smiled

      Because ‘I am a socialist,’ she screamed

      while pulling a knot of cash

      from greasy pockets

      stained by twelve hours at her restaurant

      neighborhood kids on bikes

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