John Henrik Clarke

(1915-1998)

 

 

I feel as if I know him

Born in the Alabama dark

On January 1^st

John Henry Clark

 

I feel as if I met him

Surviving a nasty fall

But rising and believing

That I must give my all

 

Dreaming beyond the common goal

Reaching for heights unseen

Overlooking the obstacles

Fixed upon a dream

 

A Mother working endlessly

Just to make ends meet

Troubled by the hatred

And inhumanity

 

Nationalist

Pan-Africanist

Scholar in World History

Master Sergeant

Author

And musician, lyrically

 

I’ve sat at the feet of Schomberg

Higgins, Seiffert, and Hansberry

John G. Jackson and Paul Robeson

And at the finest universities

 

Educating the masses

And leaving a legacy

I feel as if I know him

Maybe because I am

 

John Henrik Clarke

 

 

By John D. Evans

The Evans Poetry Collection

P.O. Box 2177

Oak Park, IL  60303-2177

http://www.jdpoetry.com