But He Was Cool
or: he even stopped for green lights
super-cool
ultrablack
a tan/purple
had a beautiful shade.
he had a double-natural
that wd put the sisters to shame.
& his beads were imported sea shells
(from some blk/country i never heard of)
he was triple-hip.
his tikis were hand carved
out of ivory
& came express from the motherland.
he would greet u in swahili
& say good-by in yoruba.
woooooooooooo-jim he bes so cool &ill tel li gent
cool-cool is so cool he was un-cooled by other niggers’ cool
cool-cool ultracool was bop-cool/ice box cool so cool cold cool
his wine didn’t have to be cooled, him was air conditioned cool
cool-cool/real cool made me cool--now ain't that cool
cool-cool so cool him nick-named refrigerator.
cool-cool so cool
he didn’t know,
after detroit, newark, chicago &c.,
we had to hip
cool-cool/super-cool/real cool
that
to be black
is
to be
very-hot.
Copyright Credit: Haki Madhubuti, "But He Was Cool" from Groundwork: New and Selected Poems. Copyright © 1996 by Haki Madhubuti. Reprinted by permission of Third World Press.
Source: Groundwork: New and Selected Poems (Third World Press, 1996)