KNOWING WHAT I WAS TOLD NOT TO

(I am a big fan of great Poets of the past, such as Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks and those who continue on in their work and in our struggle, such as Maya Angelou and my particular favorite, Nikki Giovanni, who's various styles of writing and sentence structure was and is pure perfection in its simplicity. This is my ode to her great style. Peace and Love)

gaze no longer shaded as my heart and mind ascends
as I move closer to perfection
closer to love
closer to knowing what I was told not to
when I went outside that ole sun swept me up
wrested me away to sway in its warmth
my mind ablaze
I glow knowing what I was told not to
and oh that mountain that I climbed welcomed me
now I see all the heavens from where I stand
I do not fall off
I'm high knowing what I was told not to
I went to all the seas and plunged myself into its purities
absorbing its fluid purpose to sustain the existents
my heart swimming
I'm drenched knowing what I was not to
forced to stand before the cotton fields, with gunnysack in hand
breathing deeply as I walk slowly through the dense pain
I emerge on the other side with a sword in hand
I'm strong knowing what I was told not to
I am free for what I know
ready to die for what I know
ready to live for what I know
ready to share with you what I know
I know THE TRUTH