Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Opportunity’s Autumn Burial
Bill Quigley
08 Oct 2008
🖨️ Print Article

Opportunity’s Autumn Burial

by  Kemet Mawakana

 

Click the flash player below to hear this work performed by the Seven Foot Poet

{mp3}poetry/104_7ft_autumn{/mp3}

 

If leaves could fly

 

          Would they fall prey to the wind

 

                   Accept their fate and simply give in?

 

 

If leaves could fly

 

          Would they have already left

 

                   Or remain beholden to branches that promise freedom

 

The week after next?

 

If leaves could fly

 

          Would they remember

 

                   Those before them that died in past Septembers?

 

 

If leaves could fly

 

          Would the reminisce

 

                   On days of hanging onto hopes of false bliss?

 

 

So I leave you now with one thought left

 

          If leaves don’t try to fly

 

                   The fall brings certain death.

 

 

 

By Kemit Mawakana (aka The Seven-Foot Poet)

Peace (when appropriate) War (when necessary)

                             Copyright 1996.

 

Kemit Mawakana (aka “The Seven-Foot Poet”) is a highly acclaimed spoken-word artist, and has published two books A . . . Z . . . InfinityCrucifixion of My Soul.  The collective body of his works presented in www.blackagendareport.com and www.voxunion.com are in tribute to Listervelt Middleton, Dr. John Henrik Clarke, and “For The People”.  Currently, he is a facilitator at AYA Educational Institute (www.ayaed.com) in Atlanta, Georgia and can be reached at sevenfootpoet@gmail.com.

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Jamarl Ajamu
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Jamarl Thomas
    Ajamu Baraka | "Very Dangerous Situation"
    22 Oct 2025
    Ajamu Baraka, BAR Editor and Columnist, joined Jamarl Thomas to discuss U.S. decline into overt fascism, the proxy war in Ukraine, and the regime change campaign against Venezuela.
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    No Kings and the Lure of Spectacle
    22 Oct 2025
    The most recent No Kings march will hopefully be the last. A Democratic Party get out the vote effort is a show that obscures and obstructs the real work of organizing. 
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    SPEECH: Cuba, Nicaragua, Grenada Together We Shall Win, Maurice Bishop, 1980
    22 Oct 2025
    “Long live the Grenadian revolution! Long live the militant unity and solidarity of workers internationally!”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    A Tale of Two Ceasefires: Gaza and DRC
    22 Oct 2025
    The US has negotiated ceasefires in Gaza and the DRC’s eastern Kivu Provinces, but the killing, displacement, and devastation in both continue.
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Did you see an infantile, juvenile flight of fancy?
    22 Oct 2025
    "Did you see an infantile, juvenile flight of fancy?" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us