whenever
he read
folks
would sit
attentive
waiting
listening
for
“Ma Rainey”
and
“Old Lem”
waiting
for the
tall tales
and lies
told between
poems
there
was always
humor and
wisdom
and
there was
always the
reading
of
“Strong Men”
at the end
of the day
a
poem
of
encouragement
a
poem
about
history and
dignity
one thing
which cannot
be lost
one thing
which cannot
be forgotten
among the
strong men
among
the
keepers
and
believers
among
the
builders
and
the
dreamers
this poet
sterling
brown
was
a
sterling
of
a
man
E. Ethelbert Miller is a literary activist and the author of two memoirs and several books of poetry. He hosts the weekly WPFW morning radio show On the Margin with E. Ethelbert Miller and hosts and produces The Scholars on UDC-TV which received a 2020 Telly Award. Miller’s latest book If God Invented Baseball (City Point Press) was awarded the 2019 Literary Award for poetry by the American Library Association’s Black Caucus. https://searcharchives.library.gwu.edu/repositories/2/resources/367