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POEM: Stand up, Moses

Listen to this poem using the player above.

A poem for Albany-based writer and poet Moses Kash III. The first line is from a poem Moses read at Dan Wilcox’s Third Thursday Poetry Reading on May 20, 2010.

Photo of Moses Kash III by Keith J. Spencer

Stand up, Moses

white people have got hold of all the cash
except Americus Moses Kash the third
he remains independent of their influence
standing tall on bad knees and black sneakers
proclaiming … this word … and … this word … and …
the word, born of life lived with tall vision
he does not shirk his duty, tells it like it is
as he has seen it, felt its sting
captured its image in his lens
boxes and boxes and stacks and stacks
stacks and stacks and boxes and boxes
he still uses the word “mimeograph”
as if time stopped in the 1960s
and maybe it did
can you prove that your heart is beating​?

Published in Albany Audio Poems My poems Poetry

One Comment

  1. Kimberly Erwin Kimberly Erwin

    Oh wow! What insight. Thank you for this. Just thought to give a shout out and link to those of your viewers/listeners who may want to know about Moses’ new poetry book. Able to be purchased in print (admin@theoneraceclub.com) or on Amazon and Barnes and Nobles e-Book sites. Also check out his FB site: @AmericusMosesKash

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