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Sistah Joy

Sistah Joy

Mar 01, 2015

I've known Sistah Joy for 20 years and she is always  a new sunrise, a warm cup of tea, light on the lake, bluebirds in the snow, a source of the Divine.  -Grace Cavalieri

Sistah Joy's first collection, "Lord I'm Dancin' As Fast As I Can", includes an introduction by former Washington Post award-winning columnist, Dorothy Gilliam. Sistah Joy also authored and self-published two chapbooks: "This Garden Called Life" and "From Pain to Empowerment - The Fabric of My Being." She has received the Washington, DC Poet Laureate Special Award (2002) "for her outstanding contribution to the art of poetry in Washington, DC" and is an alum of the Washington, DC Poet Laureate's "Poets in Progress" reading series. She periodically attends the "Writers on the Green Line" a writer workshop series in Washington, DC, and has attended each of the Mariposa writers retreats in Pennsylvania.

Sistah Joy also hosts occasional poetry workshops as well. In January 2015, her group, Collective Voices, presented its 19th annual Poetry Extravaganza, a free-to-the-community literary arts event honoring Dr. Martin Luther king, Jr. at DC's MLK Library. The series, which is attended by hundreds annually and has on several occasions featured DC Poet Laureate, Dolores Kendrick, has presented over 120 poets to the Washington community. 

Described as a "pioneer poet" (... E. Ethelbert Miller), Sistah Joy is a spiritually inspired poet and literary activist who works to bring poetry into the lives and minds of citizens who are often under-served or unconnected with the arts.  She has served as president of the Poetry Ministry of the Prince George's county mega-church, Ebenezer AME Church, for the past 12 years and currently also serves as Poet in Residence at Black-owned, community-based Annie's Art Gallery (www.anniesartgallery.net) where she has for the past 8 years hosted the free inter-generational "Family Night Poetry Open Mic" from 6-9 pm on third Thursdays.  Formerly the poetry editor of ACE Dialogue, a quarterly literary Black arts publication during its 5-year run, Sistah Joy co-produces and hosts the award-winning poetry-based cable-television show, "Sojourn with Words," which airs on CTV, the Prince George's County, Maryland local access station.  The show's numerous recognitions include, among others, two (national) Telly Awards for excellence in cultural programming.


The Harvest

This plot
This small acreage which I plow
Shall yield good crop
For I shall tend it with great care
Till the soil
Weed it regularly
Keep it free of vermin & fetid things
I shall keep watchful eye
Irrigate it without wastefulness
Plant only the purest seed
Watch as the fullness of bounty bursts forth
And then--
Then I shall harvest
Blessing my brethren and any in need
For this plot shall yield good crop
Mighty and abundant
Providing all I have need of and more
And I shall offer it
And honor it
As I have been honored
To receive

Reflections

We must look back
Vision, you see, is premised –
Predicated upon the universe
In which it is formed
To see tomorrow’s vision, to dream
Eyes must have a frame of reference
A vantage point through which we assess what is
But not only eyes -- minds and hearts
Indeed souls can be lifted by vision
And cursed by lack of it
So we look back
Name and claim our mournings,
As freely as we seek the glory and glee of victories
Not to dwell in yesterday
Nor she in us
But to gain from her legacy, good or bad
Ancestors, elders, and tomorrow’s seed yet born
Each has or shall witness
With earthly short-sightedness
That which limits vision to all this side of Jordan
So whether we be born strong of spirit
Or weak of flesh
We are the same
And since neither war nor any of the “isms” which afflict mankind
Prevail beyond the grave
Neither free nor slave escapes the final call
We can only look back
In prayer and faith that tomorrow brings rebirth
In hopes that before or after we return to earth
Some purpose is made clear
Some deed aligned with need in a way
That our fellowship lifted another
That perhaps someone rejoiced in our being
That at least one was helped or healed by our walk
We look back

A Woman Once Laughed

Her laugh
Was gentle, soft
Warm and inviting
She shared it often
Some said, a bit too often
Such was her way
Throughout her life
 
She was mother
Grandmother, aunt and friend
Each role suited her just fine
Not one to shout
Not her style
She preferred to smile
And laugh
Gentle and soft
 
Often tinged with nervousness
Her delicate laugh
Danced like ripples from
A stone skipping
Across a satin lake
 
Her pain
Like the bruises
Beneath her make-up
Remained hidden
Behind her smile and her laugh
Such was her choice
Such was her way
Throughout a life
Riddled with pain,
Heartache and sorrow
Punctuated by punch-lines
That had nothing to do with laughter

This Freedom Thing

There are some that have come to know freedom
Only through ancestors’ woeful echoes
Those whose chorus of un-ripened dreams
Were turned nightmare
Work songs from field, chain, even church
But seldom CEO
Songs sung and clung to for life
Pain-birthed melodies from slaves
Whose souls uttered
Unlettered words of hope
Courage and resolve
Such was and is our story
It is for them that I lift prayer
For them, they who sift spirit from sorrow
While searching the horizon for signs of the familiar
They who bid me, even now
To sing their song
Of loss and pain
In verse made plain
They plead me to release it
To the universe
Shout it from faith's
Highpoint of hope
They say, steal away
Search out this freedom thing
Claim it
Revere and hold it dear
Create it when necessary
But always keep it safe

Grow it from whisper to shout song
Then, hand it down
Tender and prideful to the young ones
Teach them to make it their own

So I hold fast to the thing
So many never knew
It is for them that I write
For them that I strive
To create beauty from tears
Certain that this freedom thing
Which some would deny me – is near

© Sistah Joy, all rights reserved

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