Monday, October 5, 2015

Waleje in Love by Malcolm Rodney




This evening I would like to post an example of a new form of poetry, the waleje, a form invented by Nigerian-American poet Malcolm Rodney (also known as Prince Adewale Oreshade or Abdul Kabir Abu Irfan).  


Waleje in Love

i.

honey,
i understand it
when you said
you didn't see
the green light i sent

i really do, honey
i really do.

ii.

you see
it takes light
from the north star
four hundred and thirty years
to get to us. so the north star that
we see is literally over four centuries old;
literally!

iii.

so you see
i understand,
i really do.

and i can't
fault your
beautiful
imperfection.

iv.

honey pie,
quantum physics also taught me
that the light you just saw

that one you are very sure of
was three hundredth of a second old
at the time you saw it;
literally!

v.

yes, i know this
for light travels at
one hundred and eighty six
thousand miles per second.

so that your present is your past
and the past was never your present;
literally!

vi.

just be calm,
and listen to my voice,
perhaps, this will get to you.

i know sound travels faster in iron
than it does through the air.
i know!

but i can't speak in irons.

vii.

so all i will be saying
might be lost in the wind.

but you see,
i showed you the green light
and the light is my witness;

i hope you heard me!
i hope you will hear me!!

viii.

at three hundred and forty three
meters per second; i doubt it!

your presents have become the past
your present was never the present

your present was your past
and your past is history

gone with the wind...

ix.

you beautiful imperfection!

how then am i
to communicate
my love to you?

this love that
makes me exist in the present
and you, in my future!

x.

your eyes have failed me
your ears have failed me
no offense to your feelings
but they do not know of me!

murmurs in my dream?
soliloquies in the dark?

mirrors in my eyes!

xi.

if by any chance
you saw the green light;
i believe in miracles too.

i implore
that you heed its call

let its light
guide your feet

xii.

honey!

don't worry about
where we will
elope to.

i have got it
all figured out

i really do!

xiii.

honey!

you remember
what einstein
said about
traveling
through
time?

xiv.

yeah, when he said
that the closer an object
moves at the speed of light
the slower time moves for that object.

that theory is true,
and i believe it,
every bit of it.

xv.

and that's why i
have sent my
light to you

let's leave
this world
with all its
hate

xvi.

let's leave
this world
with all of
its fears,
anger,
and greed.

let's leave, love!

xvii.

i do not call you
to death, my love.

no, i do not!

i call you
to light,
life and
love.

xviii.

let's leave this world
for just two light years

we will be back
a hundred years later

when all the souls
that hate on us
are far gone

xix.

you see, honey!

a light year
is equivalent
to fifty years.

and two light years
is a hundred
gregorian years.

xx.

we will travel
at the speed of light
for two years.

two years of bliss
two years of peace
two years of progress;
enlightening two years!

xxi.

the faster we go
the more our mass
shall increase

and the more our mass
increases, the more energy
we will need to propel our
being further into space.

xxii.

i know this, love
but i am certain!

that the energy
of love within
us shall defy
gravity beyond
light's imagination.

xxiii.

i am certain!

that the infinite
energy of love
within us shall
defy any knot
that comes our
light way.

xxiv.

and when we return
we shall tell the world
about how science saved
love from the eyes of hate.

we shall tell
of how science
saved the art of love.

xxv.

we shall tell
of how the arts
gave science all
the infinite energy
it needs to defy
theories of relativity
and quantum physics.

xxvi.

and when we return, love!

we shall tell
of the art of science
the science of art
the signs in the heart
and the heart in the signs;
the milky way!

xxvii.

honey!

when we return into
this swirling teacup,

i shall hold you within me
and you shall sweeten my soul
with your raw wholeness;
how life is just a cup of tea!

xxviii.

when we return
if we return
if we ever leave
if you ever see
the green light
if you ever hear

the sound of love...
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For more information about the waleje,  as you can see, it is made up of a series of seven-line stanzas.  The series can be as long as it needs to be.  More information is online.

I think I'll start with some Stevie Wonder...his "Love's In Need of Love Today" and "Saturn":

I want to switch gears a little with Warren Wolf's "Sunrise": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCoG-cQdzcw

Recently my husband and I saw Bela Fleck and Chick Corea in concert, so I'll finish off with a couple of their songs.  First is "Senorita": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT5P_YL1UDA

Here is a little bit of their "Waltz for Abby":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DijxYIavzcA  

Abby is Fleck's wife, the banjo player Abigail Washburn.  I'll close with some of her music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5avMOaEUxRQ



4 comments:

  1. I enjoyed reading this new kind of poetry. How it moves through all these turns but comes back to the green light.

    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. omg i loved this new poetry... absolutely beautiful and so profound
    i felt it in my inner soul
    congratulations to mr. Malcolm Rodney

    ReplyDelete