(C) Lauren Mann
Since April is National Poetry Month, I thought I'd share two poems--one written by my daughter, and one written by my aunt Johari who passed away at 88, a few months back. Though Aunt Johari was a co-founder of Third World Press and a gifted poet during the Black Arts Movement in Chicago during the 60s, I only knew her as my dad's sister whose given name was Jewel, and that she was a retired chiropractor who moved back to Chicago to be closer to her son (a gifted cadiologist) after I had moved away.
So sadly, I did not grow up knowing my aunt, and as an adult only met her a few times, though I did my best to get to know her by calling her on the phone. Whenever I did, I'd have to remind her who I was--'I'm Dionna, your brother Don's oldest'--and she'd acknowledge me. I'd try to find a common ground by talking about her poetry. Unfortunately, that was not a topic of interest to her whenever I tried. I guess her days as a poet were something she wanted to stay in her past.
Anyway, not long after my aunt's passing, I was reading one of my daughter's poems. It reminded me of one of my aunt's! Can a voice be inherited? I don't think so; and yet, there the two poems were, quite similar, at least to me. So that's why I've shared them here.
What do you think of them? In your opinion, do they have a similar voice?
So sadly, I did not grow up knowing my aunt, and as an adult only met her a few times, though I did my best to get to know her by calling her on the phone. Whenever I did, I'd have to remind her who I was--'I'm Dionna, your brother Don's oldest'--and she'd acknowledge me. I'd try to find a common ground by talking about her poetry. Unfortunately, that was not a topic of interest to her whenever I tried. I guess her days as a poet were something she wanted to stay in her past.
Anyway, not long after my aunt's passing, I was reading one of my daughter's poems. It reminded me of one of my aunt's! Can a voice be inherited? I don't think so; and yet, there the two poems were, quite similar, at least to me. So that's why I've shared them here.
What do you think of them? In your opinion, do they have a similar voice?
Complement
by my aunt Johari M. Amini
here i am in the sweet evening
and bamboo reeds wave into
rhythms of the seventh pulse
honey stars shine
wide in a warm sky
dark sounds humhum patterns of the long grass
and heap me into beads of waiting
the big leaf moves
and the tree is heavy with it
come bring me my seeds
