Citywide Agent Reads for a Global Audience.

on Dec 16 in Uncategorized by

Date: Thursday, December 16, 2010, 2:43 PM

On December 15, Citywide Poets alumnus Justin Rogers performed his poem “It’s Not Always Cold in Detroit” before a packed audience at Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Town Hall meeting in Farmington Hills. The audience heard from the global director of M-BFS, Fritz Reiner, whose remarks (and Justin’s poem) were beamed worldwide, to audiences as far away as Germany and Argentina. The text itself is “going global” via the organization’s portal on December 17.

Director for Communications and Corporate Marketing James Ryan reported “very positive feedback” on Justin’s performance. InsideOut looks forward to the new year as we bring poetry and the voices of Detroit youth to promote M-BFS’s discussion about diversity.


IT’S NOT ALWAYS COLD IN DETROIT
Justin Rogers, InsideOut Literary Arts Project, Citywide Agents

It’s not always cold in Detroit –
after amber sunsets melting into ebony
and pearl-like-streetlight-studded midnights—
caramel dipped sunrises
emerge from beyond the border.

Warmth seeps from a thrust of a butterfly’s wings
turning Detroit winters into love-seeking
blizzards, singing ballads of city harmony.

When you look closely, you too can see the beauty
beneath each al wissam. The heat sweating
through every fur coat embraces you
like the deep breath taken just before
reciting a poem.

Detroit is not just black and white—
we watched Eminem rise from freestyle competitions
to a triple platinum Dr. Dre protégé
so there’s no way you can say
we ain’t beautiful.

Our city is a canvas scattered with colorful
graffiti-marked neighborhoods and monuments
weaving modern day discoveries
with long-loved antiques sketching a majestic elegance
only we can create.

Detroit is not heartless—
our waters flow like the blood pumping
through a mother’s heart
when she clutches her newborn
for the first time. The roots
of our existence embrace the Midwest
like my little sister embraces her teddy
after a nightmare. When you listen close
you can hear the grace-paved streets
of our downtown singing us to sleep
on a nightly basis. Our heaven-kissed chapels
pour blessings on us like waterfalls.

Detroit is not crumbling
like a rotting tree in the winter
but we are growing like an ivory trillium
upon the face of humanity.

You see our work
and say we are under construction
but we say our efforts
are recreating history.

Detroit is wrapped in purple
ballads, like Aaliyah. Our goal
isn’t to be placed on a pedestal
above our neighbors but to be etched
into memory and be recognized
as beautiful…

….like a cherry-dipped sunset
melting upon a sapphire sea
that borders a delicate kingdom
whose population
will never run dry.
——————————————

Comments are closed.