This is a true story
Vegetable !
I could read this word.
Vegetable !
Because of Mary Lou Redd, Reading Specialist Baltimore Public Schools
I was age 10, reading---
Vegetable.
Prior to, I added my own words to the printed page.
My stories,
not Mcgraw-Hill.
Mary Lou made magic.
Saving children from a lifetime of ignorance, shame and lies.
Vegetable!
Rememberring my first steps that day,
I cried, proudly... .
VEGETABLE .....
all on my own.
Thank you, Ms. Mary Lou.
The late Redd Foxx was great with stand-up comedy.
However, his acts were just full of profanity.
On television, he played the character of Fred G. Sanford.
In all those years, he never said a dirty word.
This is a tribute to Miss Mary Lou Redd
who met me in my time of greatest need.
Family Days became Davis Family instead
when she began to teach me how to read.
By fourth grade year I ceased to learn
and struggled to achieve.
Upon a closer look each term
they found I could not read.
She was not wealthy or renown
just a gifted Reading Specialist
who unlocked the door of sound
and was to me the very best.
She taught me phonetic rules
compound words, prefixes and the like.
She brought the world into the school.
We’d experience. We’d talk. We’d write.
Imagine what life would have been
if not for Miss Mary Lou Redd
failure over and over again
printed words always causing dread.
I now know the technical name
for the problem that was mine
I would see,” world and word” as the same
depending on appearance not taking time
Miss Mary Lou, Miss Mary Lou
was a gem of education.
I became a Reading Specialist too.
Guess who was my inspiration?
10/19/19
Favorite Teacher or Professor Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Chantelle Anne Cooke
STRAND SPECIAL 8,any form,any theme Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Brian Strand
bust up the beat to promote its tempo
taking you to places you need to know
rap is the harmony to take away my anxiety
not since the old famed Redd Fox boy that homeboy do think a lot
boogy down to the socks
I sit as a rose without its thorn
some may curse the very day they were actually born
but you got to wait your turn
one soul soars while the other will burn
like the world watch it turn
Rap to the rhyme & rhyme for a reason
its like the changing of the seasons without any reason
in time the seed would grow into a healthy stalk
come with me let's go for a walk
the more you breath the less you talk
folks in the numbers under the satin covers with home made lovers
by choice we often wander friends growing fonder hair getting blonder
the message is getting bolder have to look over your shoulder society's getting colder
yes that seed would grow into fruition to late on your tuition start listening
when I'm alone in my room then i stare at the wall in the back of my mind I hear my conscience call
like a bird please light the flame walk the walk away from the criminally insane
why should I complain I'm making the green bling living in a land so very mean
For all his meals Ralph Redd ate soup
to keep him from between-meals droop.
It seemed to be OK
but then there came a day
when Ralph was unable to poop.
There was an ardent cowboy named Redd
Who wed a city girl beyond his spread.
They were a good match ’twas believed
Except she was acutely aggrieved
To discover that Redd wore spurs to bed.
^
[]
yellow lemon
green apple
red raspberry
orange orange
/\/\/\/\
grey goose
pink flamingo
red robin
raven raven
\/\/\/\/
gold fish
blue whale
red snapper
salmon salmon
/\/\/\/\
black panther
brown bear
Redd Foxx
sable sable
\/\/\/\/
copper head
black mamba
red racer
snake skin
/\/\/\/\
black man
white man
red skin
human
\/\/\/\/
zebra stripes
leopard spots
diamond back
rainbow trout
CHAMELEON
for each day you live I am thankful
for that wagging tail and bountiful kisses I am thankful
as you wind amoung the family and then bounce your
dog brothers out of the way
I am thankful for your play
that you engage us all and take us away from
sorrow
you, most beautiful boy
love of my life
I am thankful
my heart is longing
for a trip to the beach
a long afternoon in my chair
hot sun
waves drowning voices
running with Redd in the waves
jealousy chokes me hot
and hard under my heart
people going for the weekend
I can never get away
its work, or its work, or maybe
work
opportunities of youth are long gone
swallowed up in responsibility
and now summer
is almost
gone
I'm roasting some dinner
putting things away
potatoes in the oven
meats on the way
peaches in a big dish
cinnamon and sugar
mail on the table
towels to be folded
I'm wiping the counters
putting away the dishes
thinkng about ice tea
and maybe watermelon
I'm counting how many
will sit around the table
how many will be late from work
and miss the conversation
I'm sitting on the steps outside
throwing the ball to Redd
and on the air I smell the dinner
I wish I was eating instead.
i wanna vent like Bukowski
but the censors won't let me
be heard
won't let me cock my hat
and unload my gun
won't let me
be heard
i wanna howl like Ginsberg
but the censors don't like
my words
my swagger Redd Foxx like
when allowed to write
my words
i bet i could keep you up at night
if you allowed me to
be heard