One Good Reason To Stay: A Poem For Phyllis Hyman

Live from Jozi, SA.
Love the tent dress in person. Makes me look pregnant with quads on camera. Oh well. Enjoy the poem.

Um... also ignore the strange things that I'm doing with my hands.

Full Text as requested:
One good reason to stay
A poem for Phyllis Hyman

They said you tried
squeezed laughter from stone
Whenever you could
Hurdled yourself out of bed and fog
Long enough to send your songs across the night
They said you were a fighter in these photographs you flash a black & white
Of doe eyed and regal crowned
No one can doubt your strength

They called you Pepper
Mistook your rage for something
Other than the pain it protected
They said it was the men that
left you small in king size
Empty of bed
Said it was the weight And the wait
The freedom that life denied you
The drugs providing synthetic sex
They said the loneliness ate you
When no one heard --
You were a half breath of ache
Before the first note
The hurt that lingered like last call after the final curtain
When it was just you and you

Aching to be rid of yourself
Begging sleeping backs
And closed doors for a good reason to stay
A reason to try
To push beyond the pain for one more day
Allow another bit of morning to stun
You into beauty
Maybe you wouldve remembered the
Music
Caught the chord that impressed even you
Wrapped that ego around your shoulders
Rise into your six feet and 4 inch heels
Breathe air and fire and stone
Phyllis, you were an impossible quest for calm
an unattainable tomorrow
That press and push of a yesterday that
Bound you

And we your lost daughters study your song
Search for meaning between each and every line
Anything to put a purpose to the hollow that throbs with us
Phyllis, we have so many questions

Did you see God before you left?
Did she look like you?
All long limbed and full lipped
round faced and ethereal beauty
If you had would you have done it anyway?
refused your own reflection that last morning
Or would you have sighed into recognition
Exhaled a low, slow mournful blues
Into the heavens
Felt like this was where you needed to be

Was Lady there?
Did she welcome you as kindred
Or beg you to return
To tell your story to the new voices that would
Hold you as example
What would you say to Amy?
To Britney?
Was it you that saved Mary?
Whitney?
Can you save Lauryn?

We need a song, Phyllis
Something like you
A pretty stained glass held to catch the light
Something honest and real
We need a song, Phyllis
put a bit of beauty inside this shell we fling from pain to pain
Drenched in our own denial and hollow pillar
Each of us adding a lyric
Another reason to welcome morning
Despite the empty
Despite the lonely
The fatigue eating through our bones
We are all tired.
All feel on odd days that this heartbreak will be the last one
We need a song
A poem to carve and crawl under
Something to see ourselves in
Something beautiful
Something fragile and fire
Something like you, Phyllis
A good enough reason to stay

(all rights reserved)

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Def
• Poetry
• Jam
• Bassey
• Ikpi
• Phyllis
• Hyman
• FlipShare
• Speak
• The
• Mind
• Jozi
• South
• Africa

[Basseyworld]

Thank you so much for all the positive comments! Phyllis was so extraordinary, I know that this poem doesn't begin to do her justice.

[Cleopatra1985]

Very nice poem. But toward the middle and end I could not hear because of the audio can you post the poem? Thanks so much for posting this video.

[Basseyworld]

No worries. I just posted it on the side.

[indigirl86]

hey, could you post the words to the poem somewhere...I can't quite hear everything you're saying, but hey, preach on 'bout our girl Phyllis. The things you doing with your hand girl...that's about some of the same things she did when she sang...gone 'head boo!!

[Basseyworld]

Just posted the poem on the side.

[arieschica]

Te second to last stanza gets me every time. Your delivery and phrasing adds emotional heft to it that always causes me to pause for just a minute

[purpleness64]

Phyllis Hyman gone too soon! thank you for this and thanks for posting!

[amadah3]

Wow! Your poem brought me to tears. What a great tribute!

[ladymuziklover]

wow that was a very nice tribute to the late great ms hyman....from poet to poet, keep it up

[Cleopatra1985]

My goodness.... that is a wonderful poem. When I read it, it made me cry. There are no words to describe how good this poem is but well done. Very well done....

[Cleopatra1985]

Thanks so much.