Grits and Pasteles Go Great Together

This piece is a sonnet. According to About.com, you can identify a sonnet if the poem has the following characteristics:

• 14 lines. All sonnets have 14 lines which can be broken down into four sections called quatrains.
• A strict rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet is ABAB / CDCD / EFEF / GG (note the four distinct sections in the rhyme scheme).
• Written in iambic Pentameter. Sonnets are written in iambic pentameter, a poetic meter with 10 beats per line made up of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables.

This sonnet is about a Black and Hispanic love relationships. The title for this poem was inspired by the book and play Do Platanos Go Wit’ Collard Greens?

The picture used is an image of Will Smith and Evan Mendes from the movie Hitch.

Song titles are hyper-linked to their audio files on GrooveShark.com.

I hope that you enjoy this poem.

________________________________________________________________

“Grits and Pasteles Go Great Together”

© 2013 Tyrone Turner

All rights reserved.

Feisty like Rosie, body like JLo.

Your accent is soothing to my eardrums.

Since We’ve Been Together my dreams did grow.

Some hate my happiness; their minds are slums.

Your skin remains fair in the cool climate,

But deepens to dark ecru in summer.

Nothing Compares 2 U; I can’t find it.

Those who disagree are Dumb & Dumber.

“Por favor, papi, dame un beso.” [Please, Daddy, give me a kiss.]

When you say those words, I just get goosebumps.

Pounding heart as if caused by espresso.

You’re so sexy and have all the right lumps.

See, You and I, Birds of a Feather.

Grits and pasteles go great together!

A Love Letter Just Because I Love You

This piece is a sonnet. According to About.com, you can identify a sonnet if the poem has the following characteristics:

• 14 lines. All sonnets have 14 lines which can be broken down into four sections called quatrains.
• A strict rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet is ABAB / CDCD / EFEF / GG (note the four distinct sections in the rhyme scheme).
• Written in iambic Pentameter. Sonnets are written in iambic pentameter, a poetic meter with 10 beats per line made up of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables.

This sonnet is about a man expressing his love and appreciation for his wife/girlfriend by writing her a love letter and sending her flowers, candies and jewelry.

The picture below is called “Love Letter” and the artist is Frank Morrison. Make sure to look into his lovely works of art.

Song titles are hyper-linked to their respective audio files on YouTube.com.

“A Love Letter Just Because I Love You”

© 2013 Tyrone Turner

All rights reserved.

Sometimes The Words Get In the Way, sweetheart,

But know that I love you from Head to Toe

I crave for your embrace when we’re apart;

My desire for your sweet kisses does grow.

Never can such beauty ever go stale

Because each time I see your lovely face

Is as if my eyes drank from the Holy Grail;

Visions of you in pink satin and lace.

The jewelry, flowers and candy are

Symbolic of you being a treasure,

The fragrant scent of your perfume; a star

In my Heaven and my sweet tooth’s pleasure.

As Soon As I Get Home I’ll make dinner.

I know what I got and you’re a winner.

Our Firstborn Child Who Will Bring Us New Hope

This piece is a sonnet. According to About.com, you can identify a sonnet if the poem has the following characteristics:

• 14 lines. All sonnets have 14 lines which can be broken down into four sections called quatrains.
• A strict rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet is ABAB / CDCD / EFEF / GG (note the four distinct sections in the rhyme scheme).
• Written in iambic Pentameter. Sonnets are written in iambic pentameter, a poetic meter with 10 beats per line made up of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables.

This sonnet is an expression of love a husband and wife or a boyfriend and girlfriend have for their unborn, firstborn child. The picture below is called “Love and Cherish” and the artist is Fred Matthews. Make sure to look into his lovely works of art.

Enjoy!

“Our Firstborn Child Who Will Bring Us New Hope”

© 2013 Tyrone Turner

All rights reserved.

Your mother was the apple of my eye

And the breath in my lungs when we first met.

The sun, moon, stars and all that’s in the sky;

All of the good tidings the blessed get.

I’m fortunate to have her as my wife,

Best friend and mother of our firstborn child;

A babe that we will raise to revere life,

Peace, justice, and harmony fighting wild

Base desires and avoiding the evil

That men do to each other and nature.

Balance rules in our house, not upheaval;

Order not Chaos is what we wager.

Child of the cosmos and seed on our loins

We love you more than ten tons of gold coins.

Charge It to the Game

This is a 16-part Haiku Chain Poem that discusses moving on from people and situations that just don’t work for you. As is the custom in many of my posted poetry, I will hyperlink song titles, music videos, book titles, and film titles to their respective audio, video or summary pages on GrooveShark.com, YouTube.com, Amazon.com and IMDB.com respectively.

By the way, the art piece below where the muscular black man is breaking free from chains is called “Knowledge is Power”. The artist is Kevin A. Williams (aka, WAK). Make sure to visit his site to learn more about his art work.

I hope that you enjoy the poem.

“Charge It to the Game”

© 2013 Tyrone Turner

All rights reserved

So disrespectful.
Unrepenting for what you
said and what you did.

Baby, I will not
argue with you or seek an
apology. Nope.

You feel how you feel
and that is that. The problem
is that won’t work.

It will not work for
me. There is no need for me
to defame your name.

I’m Cool Like That, hon.
Plus, its all Elementary.
Birds of a feather…

If I say that you’re
such a liar, a cheat, or
something, what am I?

The dummy that did
not see you for who you are.
Loose lips sink MY ship!

I will never let
the world know what you did and
how we handled it.

Forrest Gump said it
best: “Stupid is as stupid
does.” I Say No Go.

Also, a child should
not witness the character
assassination.

We have a beef and
can’t see eye-to-eye. The kids
are to be spared this.

Papa’s Got a Brand
New Bag. Nothing is ever
Irreplaceable.

Tricking looks easy
but simping sho’ ’nuff is hard!
Control. Alt. Delete.

I’m living that life.
Men and women can and should
live The Elite Way.

Thirsty behavior,
cup-cakin’ and chasing the
extra-average.

Stop the Madness! Don’t
settle. Be true to yourself.
Charge It to the Game.

Back to Life and Hard Lessons Learned

In the early 90’s when I was a college student, Arsenio Hall was part of my daily routine. I went to classes at St. John’s University in Jamaica (Queens, NY), went to work part-time at a prominent law firm based in Midtown Manhattan, then came home and made sure to watch The Arsenio Hall Show each night before going to sleep. His show ended rather abruptly without a clear reason as to why. Arsenio is back and after I saw the below interview with CNN’s Don Lemon, I became an even bigger fan than I was before.

Listen to the pearls of wisdom Arsenio shares in this interview and be inspired.

I like what he said about adversity: “You learn a lot about the people around you.”

Truer words have not been spoken.

Let me know your thoughts on this video. Thanks.

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO

Who is my target audience?

That is an easy question to answer. My romantic/erotic poems and short stories are written for Black and Hispanic women ages 30 and up. Of course, I hope that women of any color, ethnicity or age like my poetry, but it is written specifically for women in the aforementioned demographics.

What prompted me to post this is that some guys have been critical of my poetry as of late but quite frankly, I don’t write the poems for them. Plus, they don’t write poetry; they have no body of work. It is always easy to criticize but not so easy to produce art. I’m publishing my work and putting it here for the world to see and give a thumbs up and thumbs down. It is what it is. But again, my romantic/erotic poems and short stories are written for Black and Hispanic women ages 30 and up.

Some will like my work, and some will not. That is the risk artists are confronted with when they “come out of the closet” as an artist and share their work publicly. I will do my best to keep my audience engaged and entertained. My “poetic audio soap opera,” Back In Love Again, is still in production and will be released in 2014. I’ll keep you posted. Thanks.

My Cosmic Momma

The brightness and heat from your smile stir me from my sleep.

You send fresh air and a gentle breeze to revive me.

Birds greet me with melodic song.

You give me fruit, grain, and meat to sustain me and provide cool, refreshing water and nectar to savor.

The sweet scent of flowers and the tantalizing feel of the falling rain are delightful.

The intense pleasure provided by a lover’s touch and warmth and taste of their kiss is a sensual gift.

As time marches on and seasons change, you remind me that death yields new birth.

Leaves brown and fall in autumn and bloom in the spring.

The pond freezes in the winter and serves as a parade ground for swans in the summer.

When the sun sets in the west, I look into the heavens and see the wondrous heavenly bodies.

Stars that are so brightly lit and at times depict various shapes like dippers.

I am in awe of your majesty.

I revel in your glory and I am humbled by my realization that I’m a small droplet of dew on a blade of grass on the fecund, infinite field of the universe.

All that lives is connected by our common ancestor — you.

I look forward to each new day as it reveals another act in life’s continuous drama.

I bear witness that I will always love and protect you, my cosmic momma.

Is It REALLY Real?

I was chatting with a good friend the other day about how people don’t critically analyze or think about things before they say something or take action. This 17-part haiku chain is my advice in poem about how to use the scientific method to figure things out.

Don’t preach what you think.
Only preach about what is known.
All else is guessing.

Do not confuse what
you are told by others with
actual facts, friend.

Human history
is composed of five parts. You
need all five for sure.

If you are missing
one or more element, you
cannot erase doubt.

PEOPLE are the first
ingredient. Specific
names and titles, please.

Next comes DATES. When did
this person live? During what
period of time?

What happened? Was there
some notable EVENTS? Why
is it important?

Where was this? What PLACES?
The milieu can help put things
in proper context.

Where’s the EVIDENCE?
Without evidence, there can
be no argument.

Perhaps you’ll provide
documentation, portraits,
or a photograph.

Ancient artifacts?
Audio recordings or
video footage?

If you claim a thing
to be the truth, make sure
to present your proof.

These are the rules of
evidence. All you have to
do is be a child.

“A child shall lead them.”
“You must be born again.” Be
curious. Inquire.

Ask questions like What?
Who? Where When? Why? and How? That’s
how to get answers.

Be critical in
thinking and analysis.
Don’t go on blind faith.

Research your subject.
Due diligence let’s you know.
Is it REALLY real?

My Ebony Empress

This is a 21-part haiku chain poem dedicated to my African-American sisters.

“My Ebony Empress”

© 2013 Tyrone Turner

All rights reserved.

A daughter of the
Maafa. That most dreadful
great calamity.

The middle passage.
Some did not make it, but your
ancestors made it.

Brought to the shores of
North America to till
the soil in the heat.

Also to toil in
the cold. Through it all, you made
it. A Survivor.

Once treated like a
beast by the evil slave masters
in those days gone by.

Today, disrespected
by the boys that you hoped would
grow to become men.

Men of Honor. Men
of renown and standing. Men
who deserve respect.

“Where there’s no vision,
the people perish.” Proverbs
29:18.

My vision is for
my dark and lovely sisters
to be respected.

This is a haiku
chain poem but check out it
rhymes. Let us begin.

____________________

Soft, supple dark skin.
A bodacious body that will
make you grunt and grin.

Big brown eyes that’ll
put you in a trance and make
you want to Just Dance.

Soft kisses that take
my breath away. Please, don’t walk
away. Baby, Please Stay

That silky, sexy
voice of yours gets me going
quick. Just like Music.

Enough to make a
grown man cry so Start Me Up.
Damn, Which Way is Up?

Full lips and hips. Built
like a Brickhouse. Ready for
a man not a mouse.

Love On Top. “You’re
the one I love.” I don’t want
it to ever stop.

My Insatiable
Lady Cab Driver. Sweet like
treats from Godiva.

Be it a southern
drawl or a northern accent,
I am Heaven Sent.

A midwestern brand
or a west coast twang, do what
you want – It’s Your
Thing.

As long as my heart
beats in my chest, you’ll be my
ebony empress.

Scrumptious Trini Treat

This poem is for the ladies from Trinidad.

This poem is part of my Caribbean Queens Series.

This poem is a series of 29 haiku poems that are strung together in a series to tell a story. I call this style that I created a haiku chain poem. According to Dictionary.com, a haiku is a major form of Japanese verse, written in 17 syllables divided into 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, and employing highly evocative allusions and comparisons, often on the subject of nature or one of the seasons; or a poem written in this form.

All of my poems have the title of the poem in the last line of the poem. Also, song titles have been hyperlinked to their respective audio files on GrooveShark.com.

Enjoy!

“Scrumptious Trini Treat”

© 2012 Tyrone Turner

All rights reserved

I remember when
we first met. That was about
13 years ago.

It was so funny
how we met. I was buying
an EPT kit.

It was for my boy,
Troy, but you were on line in
front of me, smiling.

I said, “Hello.” You
said, “Best of luck to you and
to your lady friend.”

I said, “Oh – this is not
for me. It is for my friend –
for his lady friend.”

You asked, “So do you
have a wife or a girlfriend?”
I shook my head “no.”

With that melodic
accent of yours, you giggled,
“Hey, I just met you.

This is crazy. But
here’s my number, so Call Me
Maybe.” That killed me!

I laughed so dang hard.
Well, I gave you my number
and here we are now.

We made a deal to
Live It Up and stay in a
Ghetto Heaven mode.

Our families get
along well. Southern Soul meets
Trini Soca Charm.

Your younger sisters
are named Jean & Dinah. They
will be fine like you.

Last Night Changed It All.
I really had a ball. Me
and my wife, chilling.

Dinner was great! We
had macaroni pie, ox
tails and callaloo.

We washed our food down
with some sorrel. For dessert
we had sugar cake.

Then you did it, girl.
Cabernet sauvignon is
what we toasted with.

“To Us,” was our toast.
Two beautiful children, a
fine home and nice cars.

Truly blessed and favored.
“Be Thankful For What You Got”
is how we were raised.

Girl, I Want You now.
I’m in the mood. I hope you’re
Feeling Hot Hot Hot.

Kissing You is what
I want to do to you, girl.
Please, mother may I?

You said, “Boy, if you
rub mih back, mih go rub yuh
belly.” That’s a plan!

Don’t Be Afraid of
me. I am not a Monster.
I am your husband.

You’re Forever Mine
and I am Forever Yours.
Let’s Stay Together.

I’m love drunk off of
you like you’re a big bottle
of strong punch with cream.

I want you to be
happy. In mind, body and
soul. I Adore you.

Is It Good to You?
Just tell me what you want and
I’ll do it for you.

Our love-making is
always good and can never
get old. Truth I speak.

It is better when
the kids aren’t home. We can
freak out like Le Freak.

Finger-lickin’ while
slow lovin’ and rubbin’ my
Scrumptious Trini Treat.