Love Your City

part 2 of saul william’s children’s poetry for black history month.

JOHN HENRY-N-ROLL

One day
while sitting
on the john
I read about
John Henry.

He was a man
with 2 first names
who kept a hammer
handy.

He dug a tunnel
through a mountain
faster than
a drill.

And inspired
many legends
including:
The Man Of Steel!

And singers
loved to sing
about the power
of this man.

His hammering
kept a rhythm
any drummer’d
understand.

He’d bang his pick
into the rock
then shake and roll
it out.

And that’s how
Rock N Roll
got its ol’name
so Twist and Shout!

I’m glad we keep
books by the john

my favorite place to read.

I wonder if John Henry
was a man who pooped
and peed?

recently, nickelodeon asked saul williams to write some children’s poems for black history month. with the exception of the first one, “in honor of…” they are all meant to be read in a child’s voice. nickelodeon decided not to use them (quelle grande surprise), but i thought they were really fantastic so i’mma post em up. can’t figure out how to make things into columns, so maybe i’ll just post them up one by one so they don’t make up the longest blog post of all time.

IN HONOR OF…

I asked her
to clean up
her room.

She said,
“I’m not a slave.”

“Nuh, duh,” I said
“cause if you were
with that attitude
you’d be dead.”

“No. I would be
like Harriet Tubman
or Sojourner Truth.
And in honor of
Black History Month
I won’t clean up my room!”

“In honor of the maids
who worked long hours
for little pay, who cleaned
and cleaned, and cleaned
and cleaned …
I won’t clean up today!”

“Well, you do know your history”
I said. “Girl, you make me proud

And in honor of your mixed ancestry
you should clean the house.”