with shades of e e
i find the comma not uncommon
they infiltrate my sentences
they are everywhere
tearing apart creating mere fragments
of what once was a creative thought
the comma becomes saturation liquidation
an over abundance of concentration
it is like so many ghetto bars
so many inner city scars
like so many roaches and rats
and sunday go to meeting hats
you will forgive me if i say
so
knowing clearly that what i meant was
too
i drop the comma to forget to mindslip the over abundance
and why would i even give thought to the use of the period
it is an ending
a death of sorts
so final
or too
again
it turns my endless verse into something so finite
i dare not use three of them separated by spaces
for then my original thought perfect and correct becomes flawed
for now i must subsidize my original thought
perfect correct with yet another
they placed a period upon my beloved land
by dropping crack into the palm of my hand
put a virus into a sensuality that once was grand
yes i omit the terminal period in hopes that our posterity
is timeless and never ending
intentionally there is no use of the powerless semi colon
it falls short in its imitation of the colon
not quite good enough to be whole
there but to cause hesitation
to make one flinch
in the face of what is to come
recall
that langston spoke of a dream deferred
we listen
as farrakhan gives us the final word
but it flees
like the musical quickness of bird
my words and thoughts will not fall short
by the use of the semi colon
they will survive or better yet thrive
my words will not instigate my reader to hesitate
you will not find the mark that exclaims
as it only helps to fan the flames
and to perpetuate those media games
it is missing from my passage as
it merely serves to incite
it causes one to over react
to lose that natural coolness
which we regard as everyday fact
adding one more too many headlines
last night another drive by shooting
inner city crowds turn to looting
while agent orange is still polluting
the mark that exclaims
has no place in the lines that i write
i tone down my message so as not to incite
my messages are toned down so as to soothe
would i have cause to capitalize
are not two letters both of equal value
without capital isms all are created the same
why should i give one letter more recognition than another
when there is no given proof that one is the greater
the sphinx once had a royal ethiopian nose
but the british quickly eliminated those
because it was my face that the artist chose
capital isms separate over time they devastate
no two remain equal
hence i choose not to capitalize
nor to lend help otherwise
in creating the illusion that one is better than another
and finally i expunge the query as to me it brings to mind
but one word
that being what
not what as a thing
but what as in please repeat
are my words not loud enough
that they might be heard without reiteration over and again
did huey not resound his every word
is what michael sings really so absurd
why does jesse speak but is seldom heard
therefore
i refuse to query that which is loud and clear
in hopes that others might also listen and hear
the query would have one believe that a voice was never heard
when all the while
perhaps
one
never
listened
copyright 1997 blackstarr
I had the pleasure of visiting 


Sample 3 from “the wordsmith’s alley”
i am the wordsmith
i am the wordsmith,
the thought weaver,
the literary sculptist.
i am the master of word manipulation.
I am the witch doctor
of the spoken word.
i work my magic
in an unconventional style,
just to see you smile.
i invoke the magic
of an ordinary word.
i am the voodoo priest of language,
performing literary incantations.
i sprinkle recherché gems
into your ears,
hypnotizing,
mesmerizing,
thoughts and words
that keep you fantasizing.
i am the accumulator of words,
the collector of thoughts,
the purveyor of rhythmic chant.
i bring nuance to the monotone.
i am off the beaten path,
light years from the mundane,
miles away from boring lane.
i formulate complexities
from the simplest of thoughts.
i bring you something new
that you’ve never heard,
and give new meaning to the word “word”.
i am the wordsmith,
the thought weaver,
the literary sculptist.
i am the master of word manipulation.
copyright 2008 blackstarr