“Words walking without masters; walking altogether like harmony in a song.”
- Zora Neale Hurston
*
Think on Zora’s expertise about the mating habits of bees,
And how forcefully a hurricane could uproot the Florida trees.
We expect our writers to be ethereal and carefree,
Not matriculate with degrees in Anthropology.
She never quite fit in with the New Negro crowd;
Her gaze lingered too long,
She laughed a little too loud.
But Zora insisted that the unvoiced speak for themselves;
Their souls belonged on life’s highest shelf.
And here is something else that Zora knew -
Geeks are hopeless romantics and dreamers too.
We blast to the moon
… build iPods
… believe in the audacity of hope,
We make mules talk.
In our creative hands, words without masters walk.
Today’s Zora is a Trekkie;
I’ve read about it on her blog,
Wild natural hair has replaced her 1930s bob.
She tweets with Langston while solving crossword puzzle problems,
And arrives late for her own signing at Hue-Man’s in Harlem
*
This week’s Totally Optional Prompt encourages participants to write a poem that is inspired by a quotation. I decided to play around a bit with the popular image of writer Zora Neale Hurston as a sassy, free-spirited sophisticate. I mean, c’mon – only a geek could have written one of the greatest southern novels of the 20th century in seven weeks! Like most gifted artists, she was brainy, easily wounded, and her country-girl swagger sometimes disguised nagging insecurities. The Harlem rent parties and ‘Bama juke-joints were probably a blast, but more often than not, this woman had to have her head in a book or her fingers on the typewriter. As a fellow geek, this is the image of Hurston that I can relate to and admire.
Posted by Tumblewords on April 23, 2009 at 3:18 PM
Excellent source. I loved reading this…
Posted by karen simpson on April 23, 2009 at 3:35 PM
This is a wonderful poem and you know what? It’ s so true.
Posted by Sweet Talking Guy.. on April 23, 2009 at 4:39 PM
Well researched, informative and very nicely written.
Thanks for posting this!
Posted by Claudia on April 23, 2009 at 5:06 PM
Hi Tumblewords and STG: Thanks for the positive feedback! And I’m glad someone else agrees with me about Hurston, Karen – thanks for visiting the site!
Posted by Jeeves on April 23, 2009 at 11:23 PM
Well written
Posted by Zetta Elliott on April 24, 2009 at 8:23 AM
Wow–I’m super impressed! And like that you expressed admiration without gushing and proclaiming her a goddess…I taught Their Eyes a few weeks ago, and question its status as pre-feminist…but love that Zora, in her own love life, rejected the kind of “self-crushing love” that Janie pursued. Zora was a complicated woman, no doubt about it. Cheers to all the black girl geeks!
Posted by Linda Jacobs on April 24, 2009 at 8:54 AM
This is so wll done! The hints of rhymes are perfect and don’t overwhelm the poem but just add echoes.
The final stanza is especially vivid!
Posted by Claudia on April 24, 2009 at 10:23 AM
Thanks y’all. Linda, I was feeling self-conscious about the rhyming, so I appreciate your feedback on that. And I couldn’t agree more Zetta: cheers to all the black girl geeks!!!! LOL.
Posted by Doret on April 24, 2009 at 10:29 PM
Beautiful. I think Zora would approve
Posted by jonie v. on April 27, 2009 at 9:30 PM
this is one kick ass poem! how many writerly talents do you have, c.?
Posted by Claudia on April 28, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Hey thanks, jonie v!!!
Posted by carleen on April 29, 2009 at 8:17 PM
We are Zora. Wonderful poem!