Oct. 10, 1943 - Apr. 2, 2003
(or better said, from Eternity to Eternity)
"...we touch and agree and see and "BE"*
the Light in the world with the WORD."
From the Song, "Combine Your Love Light with Mine"*
By Richard L. Calloway-Bartee
Bartee singing "...Love Light":
To hear this great spirit singin', you will need a RealPlayer. If you do not have the RealPlayer, you can quickly download a free version from RealPlayer site The song excerpt can also be heard on the AOL Media Player.
*copyright (c) Vivian Skinner Bartee
All rights reserved
That beauty which is seen
with the eyes alone
withers and decays
and returns soon
into the ugly
nothingness of dust
but that beauty
which is seen
with the heart
is a permanent
and undying thing
When you plan
the "seeds of love"
soul flowers
start to grow
so water them with kindness
that they may blossom
forevermore...
copyright (c)The McCord Family 1973
Imagine..., an impromptu oration
from "The 'D' Train Poet".
How wonderful it is to be
encouraged to think, to connect
to acknowledge our unique sameness
while rocking and shaking
on the other train that will
take you back home - to Harlem.
copyright (c) M. A. Butcher
all rights reserved
by Poet/Artist/Community Worker, Mildred Keel-Williams
"Richard Bartee introduced me to a lot of folks and places in the late 70's and 80's when I had just begun to read my spoken words for audiences. Every resource at his disposal, he offered genuinely. He wasn't about cliques. He was about unity and harmony; about educating and equipping the next generation. I count it a privilege to have known him--especially when I was a young poet needing support and direction. He gave it freely. He was after all the LOVE Poet with Poet-Tential Unlimited! We can still learn a lot from the life that he led.
I can almost hear him singing as he often did. In the middle of a poem, he would sometimes break out into a song...some feel good, gospel medley of encouragement, something about pressing on! If anyone knew how, he sure did press on...constantly on the go, on the subway or anywhere was a forum for him to share everything and everybody he knew while traveling this cultural circle. I know wherever he is, he is singing! We here left behind are one gigantic voice short in the Poets' Chorus, but if we quiet our spirits, we can hear the song of his life and pass it on!"
Farewell, Teacher and Friend,
Mildred Keel-Williams
when i shed
my warm yet cumbersome earthsuit
and ride naked on the wings
of Spirit,
I will cling to the gentle essence
of a midday breeze
as I plant delicate,
wispy kisses
on the multicolored cheeks
of an unknowing humankind.
I will sigh and yawn deeply
from the cavernous depths
of my released Being
and stretch and spread my soul
from eternity to eternity;
balancing my Self
on the innocent, quivering leaves
of every treetop in existence.
And when I am tired
of lying there,
illuminating and radiating
and exchanging life energies
with the solar beams,
I will retire blissfully
with the silent sunset
and meditate on the sands
of the oceans of Life.
The dawn comes, awakening me
from the last illusion/dream
and nudges me onward
to the precipice
of what I have always been;
of what I eternally AM.
universes rock with ecstatic tremors
as a Voice pregnant with love
calls me.
With tears of sudden joy,
I give up my Spirit to Oneness,
plunge into the midst
of the vibrant Light of Love
and just
go
back
Home.
--Linda Cousins
copyright (c) L. Cousins 1977
all rights reserved
