Poet Jamarhl Crawford’s To the Queen

An ode to the the pure beautiful Black Woman — she is underneath all the muck of this world.

The poem begins: “You remind me of the Queens I fell in love with when I first saw culturally accurate depictions of my historical sheroes….” I wrote the poem to the beautiful parts, the ancient, the goddess, the warrior queen, the empress, the mother, the creator… — it’s not for any woman, in particular, but for all Black Women.

You remind me of the Queens I fell in Love with
When I first saw culturally accurate depictions
of my historical sheroes
I wish I could build monuments to you
And enter cities through the arches of your 30 ft. legs
I would chisel your face on the inside of my temple
And worship at the altar of your bottom lip
I would leave offerings on the tip of your tongue
And bow my head in prayer before you….
Excuse me…… did I say that?
Or is that all I said
I meant to say
That I would skywrite your name in graffiti
Across the Milky Way like a b-boy god in love
But that’s really not my style
And complementing your eyes or your smile
Seems so insignificant
when you are so magically magnificent
and deserve so much more than I
when all I can do is try
to muster up the audacity to approach you
like a schoolboy fan about to solicit an autograph
from his favorite female movie star
you remind me of a star appearing close enough to touch
and yet further away than I could probably imagine
and still shining bright enough to light a room
a star that wise men would follow
and like a star I feel that my destiny
is somehow wrapped up in you
but I can’t prove it
my Queen, I am burning with desire
would you not dip yourself of yourself
and cool but my tongue
and bear my young
and listen to songs that I would much rather have sung
by the heavenly host
because you are the most beautiful creature I have ever beheld
and never held
My Queen could I trouble you for a moment of your time
Which is so valuable it eludes time
and takes up no time in my space
Because your place is wherever you wish it to be
And my only hope is that you somehow include me
Remember me
I cannot forget the times we met
Because it was more than once
And all at once became once upon a time
When my fantasy stepped into my reality
and did so innocently
My Queen
at this point “I Love You” seems like the simple utterings of an idiot
but my feelings don’t stutter
heart flutters like butterflies who land on beautiful flowers like you
only to partake of sweet nectars

© COPYRIGHT 1997-2008 Jamarhl Crawford / Prophecy Communications
from Prophecy: Exemption & Redemption (2008)
ISBN 10: 0-9678559-1-8
ISBN 13: 978-0-9678559-1-2

Jamarhl Crawford comes from a legacy four generations deep in Boston, Massachusetts. Born and raised in an artistic family in the section known as Roxbury, he was exposed at an early age to all forms of music and live talent. Young Jamarhl attended the esteemed Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts, which, in the 1970’s, was the Black Boston version of Fame, learning dance, drama, music, history and more. It was here that he first became inspired and started poetry and rhyming at the early age of ten. Over the past three decades, Jamarhl has featured at hundreds of poetry & hip-hop shows and performed with and opened for The Last Poets, Poor Righteous Teachers, Public Enemy, Dead Prez, Sonia Sanchez, Amiri Baraka and more. He has toured with Les Nubians, performing at BB Kings, Smithsonian Museum, Atlanta Black Arts Festival and the 2000 Transmusicales Festival in Rennes, France. In 2002, Jamarhl opened the JAM’N 94.5 Summer Jam in Boston for a crowd of 20,000 people.

Jamarhl is the Author and Publisher of two books: (1996) Prophecy: Reflections on Life & Love From a Black Perspective • (2008) Prophecy: Exemption & Redemption