1 poem
Rickyydoc on the Conch (excerpt #1 from the Hoodoo Book of Flowers)
I am flowers of the
delta clan flowers and the line of o killens, I am
hoodoo, I am griot, I am a man of power, my word true word, my story true
story, my lies true lies, I am mythmaker, voice of the old gods, come to call
thru desperate hungers to me o mighty race, lord legba,
it is I, rickydoc rootdoctor,
ask that this gate be opened, let this work be done, in the name of the conqueror, attend me, divinity, come to me, ogotemmeli, speak and I will listen, grandfather nyikang, I spread the palms of my hands in prayer, oloddumare transcendent, know me, resplendent kwoth, grant
me serenity, haragakiza, every day I pray, tilo, hear me, en-kai,
lead me, I know the gods love me, they have
given me prophetic dispensation to speak truth, I will not fear if you are with
me, tamukujen, know me, owo, bless me, wondrous chieng,
though all stand against me I will not be defeated, come asis,
come ankore, come mutalabala
the eternal, and lord ngewo, deliver me, and kurumasaba, sanctify me, mbamba kiara, grant us rain, and
you deng, ancient one of surpassing greatness, do not
forsake me, o imana, if only you would help me, khmvoun, hear our call, merciful nhialic,
turn your eyes on life, o yataa, let blessings abound, leza, in your
name, nyame, hear me, and unkulunkulu
of the zulu, come come, mwene nyaga, come, soko, come, kyala, come, oyigiyigi, please come, ota aiku the mighty
immovable rock that never dies, come nana of the akan,
who seweth the heavens like kente,
winnamof the mossi, who dare defy you, mungu,
let me be a healing, ptah of memphis,
who thought the world and said it in a word and then it was so, come down apedemak, wargod of de nubians, come down from jebal barkals peak, attend me amesami,
she who grows in power, attend me asobe, I stand
before you,
attend me nzambi, there is sighing & difficulty, o
abuk, patron of women and
gardens, where are you, and you, androa of the lugbara, transcendent beyond experience and knowledge, I do not know what god is but I do know what god
is not, no patriarch, no earth mother, no dysfunctional family, no dispenser of
virgins,
mawu-lisa, move me, nhialac, remove my pain, and that of all creature great and
small, tomukujen, behold my victories, it is well, my
enemies are scattered, it is well, lenana, I pray
this be a good day, demoja day, earth day, dear mother
earth, be gentle with me and I will be gentle in my turn, murungu,
we gather in your name, rugaba, accept my offering, ruwa,
take my hand, epilipili, hear my plea, o engai, grant us life, for
it is you, nyankonpon, who alone is great, what you
have made is good,
once again I cry out, omari, let thy wrath cease, akongo come, demoja, bring aid, demoja, bring help, demoja, listen,
aint gon knowingly lie to
you about the nature of god just cause that's what you comfortable with, somebody
to beg, cajole and look to for grace, dear jouk, judge me worthy, asobe, wash away my sins, let me begin again, demoja demoja, anna,
in your care I cannot fail, up domfe, thy will; thy way, o ruwa,
protect me, meketa of the kono,
I am pure, asis, beat the drums, gather up the old
gods, huveane, I have questions, alouroua of the baule, the great
mantle which covers us all, I have doubts,
I doubt the universe is conscious of us as,s
we understand consciousness and yet and still I look for grace, bilikonda the everlasting eternal one, let the souls of the
people cool, and dear mercifull imana,
I am in distress, where will I go, what will I do, where is there room for me, ruhanga, see me, please see
me, godfather were, know me know me, kalumba, kanu, let me be you, nyame, let me be me, nyambe, let me be all things in your universe, ala,
let me see thru illusion, and chuku, thy instrument, demoja,
though we have been trained from birth to fear the question it would be
presumptuous to think we have encompassed divinity, woyengi, come, asa of the akamba, protect me, modimo,
remove all evil from my path, abassi,
bring joy, atai, protect me, just this once and I
will never ask again, chiuta, bring rain, mbongo, bring rain, thixo of the xhosa, and dongo, thundergod of the songhay, wuni, shalabongo, shalabongo, please come, nommo of
the dogon, help me, who am I to think I could found a Way, show me, tsui-goab,
shape shifting thunderer, do not fail me, and you, most
high enlai of the masai,
and the babajohn, the great baobab under which we
shelter, anoint me with the compassion of o killens, loving
all god creature, great and small, cant just save
your own, got to save them all, and nzame of the
bantu, supplier of many cattle, rise up, young hoodoo, cast your vision as far as you can see, determine
the challenges the tribe will face, prepare the tribal soul to meet them, rise
up
njambi, are you there, faro
of the bambara, are you there, folk think prophecy is about foretelling the future,
au contrary, prophecy is correlating current behavior with destinic
consequence - continue to conduct
yourselves in this manner and your generations will suffer, listen to me and
they will thrive, god told me this, god bid me sing – sing
atilo, all praises, sing qamata, all praises, sing mwari,
praise, makongo, I come to praise, nasilele, we praise, lozi ngewo-wa, blessings abound, nyalitch, in your grace, ditaolane,
are you there, kalumba,
most high ngai of the kikuyu, come down from kilimanjaros seat, enekpe, come, rugaba, come, shilluk, source of all things, come kaang
the wonder, come kwoth of the nuer, mysterious god of unknown things, and mbere, too and bantumodimo of the
tswana, rise up, and mboko
the great mother, rise up, and mukuru,
the old one, rise up singing,
rise up my children, shake the devil out your soul, rise up killens
chillens, in the name of legba,
oshun, and de conqueror, as if divinity could be
encompassed by a name, demoja demoja
demoja, gods blessings on us all, shalabongo
yall, rise up, gods blessings on us all, rise up
Arthur Flowers, native of Memphis, is the author of novels, nonfiction and graphic works including Another Good Loving Blues, Mojo Rising: Confessions of a 21st Century Conjureman, Brer Rabbit Retold, (Tara Books, India) and the Hoodoo Book of Flowers. He is a blues-based performance artist, a practitioner of literary hoodoo, and has been Exec Dir of various nonprofits, including the Harlem Writers Guild. He is the webmaster of Rootsblog, a Cyberhoodoo Webspace and teaches MFA Fiction at Syracuse University, NY.