FESTIVE HEART (for Baby D) Poem by Keorapetse Kgositsile

The festive heart knows that
it is always possible to do more
of what you must do
and to do it better, always

When Mingus says
he is going to play
the truth of what he is
he is not playing games

Neither is Sun Ra when he says
he actually paints pictures
of infinity with his music

And so I know that it is
always possible to do more
of what you must do
and to do it better, always
because the difference that a day
might make celebrates the day
that makes the difference

I know also that
there are scandals here
some open and loud
others closed except for
their hideous stench

So when you see me walking up
or down these streets
singing your name
it is because I'm happy
to bury the loneliness
some call freedom
as I embrace this moment where

Love leaps and soars
beyond any familiar height
or imaginable horizon
painting pictures of infinity
as it plunges into every crevice
of this festive heart of mine