DOPE: "No Assistance" from "For Colored Girls..." by Ntozake Shange

without any assistance or guidance from you
i have loved you assiduously for 8 months 2 wks & a day
i have been stood up four times
i've left 7 packages on yr doorstep
forty poems 2 plants & 3 handmade notecards i left
town so i cd send to you

you have been no help to me
on my job
you call at 3:00 in the mornin on weekdays
so i cd drive 27 1/2 miles cross the bay before i go to work
charmin charmin
but you are of no assistance

i want you to know
this waz an experiment
to see how selfish i cd be
if i wd really carry on to snare a possible lover
if i waz capable of debasin my self for the love of another
if i cd stand not being wanted
when i wanted to be wanted
& i cannot
so
with no further assistance & no guidance from you
i am endin this affair

this note is attached to a plant
i've been watering since the day i met you
you may water it
yr damn self

From "for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf"
- Ntozake Shange

DOPE: "a laying on of hands" Ntozake Shange

A Laying on of Hands
from "for colored girls who have considered suicide | when the rainbow is enuf"
by Ntozake Shange

i waz missing somethin
somethin so important
somethin promised
a layin on of hands
fingers near my forehead
strong
cool
movin
makin me whole
sense pure
all the gods comin into me
layin me open to myself
i waz missing somethin
somethin promised
somethin free
a layin on of hands
i know bout/layin on bodies/layin outta man
bringin him alla my fleshy self & some of my pleasure
bein taken full eager wet like i get sometimes
i waz missing somethin
a layin on of hands
not a man
layin on
not my mama/holdin me tight/sayin
i'm laways gonna be her girl
not a layin on of bosom and womb
a layin on of hands
the holiness of myself released

i sat up one nite walkin a boardin house
screamin/cryin/the ghost of another woman
who waz missin what i waz missin
i wanted to jump up outta my bones
& be done wit myself
leave me alone
& go on in the wind
it waz too much
i fell into a numbness
til the only tree i cd see
took me up in her branches
held me in the breeze
made me dawn dew
that chill at daybreak
the sun wrapped me up swingin rose light everywhere
the sky laid over me like a million men
i waz cold/i waz burnin up/a child
& endlessly weavin garments for the moon
wit my tears
i found god in myself
& i loved her/i loved her fiercely

DOPE: "somebody almost walked off wid..." Ntozake Shange

I have heard rumors that Tyler Perry is making a film adaptation of "For Colored Girls..... ". I maintain an "optimistic, but wary" stance about that.

Anyway, Buena Batiste (who I just discovered searching for this monologue) is fantastic in her performance, so I give her a big two thumbs up for that.



somebody almost walked off wid alla my stuff
- Ntozake Shange

somebody almost walked off wid alla my stuff
not my poems or a dance i gave up in the street
but somebody almost walked off wid alla my stuff
like a kleptomaniac workin hard & forgettin while stealin
this is mine/this aint yr stuff/
now why don't you put me back & let me hang out in my own self
somebody almost walked off wit alla my stuff
& didn't care enuf to send a note home sayin
i was late for my solo conversation
or two sizes to small for my own tacky skirts
what can anybody do wit somethin of no value on
a open market/ did you getta dime for my things/
hey man/ where are you goin wid alla my stuff/
to ohh & ahh abt/ daddy/ i gotta mainline number
from my own shit/ now wontcha put me back/ & let
me play this duet/ wit silver ring in my nose/
honest to god/ somebody almost run off wit alla my stuff/
& i didnt bring anythin but the kick & sway of it
the perfect ass for my man & none of it is theirs
this is mine/ ntozake 'her own things'/ that's my name
now give me my stuff/ i see ya hidin my laugh/ & how i
sit wif my legs open sometimes/ to give my crotch
some sunlight/ & there goes my love my toes my chewed
up finger nails/ niggah/ wif the curls in yr hair/
mr. louisiana hot link/ i want my stuff back/
my rhytums & my voice/ open my mouth/ & let me talk ya
outta/ throwin my shit in the sewar/ this is some delicate
leg & whimsical kiss/ i gotta have to give to my choice/
without you runnin off wit alla my shit/
now you cant have me less i give me away/ & i waz
doin all that/ til ya run off on a good thing/
who is this you left me wit/ some simple bitch
widda bad attitude/ i wants my things/
i want my arm wit the hot iron scar/ & my leg wit the
flea bite/ i want my calloused feet & quik language back
in my mouth/ fried plantains/ pineapple pear juice/
sun-ra & joseph & jules/ i want my own things/ how i lived them/
& give me my memories/ how i waz when i waz there/
you cant have them or do nothin wit them/
stealin my shit from me/ dont make it yrs/ makes it stolen/
somebody almost run off wit alla my stuff/ & i waz standin
there/ lookin at myself/ the whole time
& it waznt a spirit took my stuff/ waz a man whose
ego walked round like Rodan's shadow/ waz a man faster
n my innocence/ waz a lover/ i made too much
room for/ almost run off wit alla my stuff/
& i didnt know i'd give it up so quik/ & the one runnin wit it/
don't know he got it/ & i'm shoutin this is mine/ & he dont
know he got it/ my stuff is the anonymous rip[ped off treasure
of the year/ did you know somebody almost got away wit me/
me in a plastic bag under their arm/ me
danglin on a string of personal carelessness/ i'm spattered wit
mud & city rain/ & no i didnt get a chance to take a douche/
hey man/ this is not your perogative/ i gotta have me in my
pocket/ to get round like a good woman shd/ & make the poem
in the pot or the chicken in the dance/ what i got to do/
i gotta get my stuff to do it to/
why dont ya find yr own things/ & leave this package
of me for my destiny/ what ya got to get from me/
i'll give it to ya/ yeh/ i'll give it to ya/
round 5:00 in the winter/ when the sky is blue-red/
& Dew City is gettin pressed/ if it's really my stuff/
ya gotta give it to me/ if ya really want it/ i'm
the only one/ can handle it

:::drools::: Beautiful Blackberry Lip Colors

"Cypress has, to her mind, dressed for the occasion. Her shoulders lay bare under the thinnest of satin straps; the blouse fell over her bosom, sensually peach. Huge lime flowers that had never been seen on earth spread over the deep blue of her crepe skirt. Her eyes were shaded in greens, her lashes aqua. Lips, blackberry and ripe. Her hair flew about her head in wafts held with ebony combs."

Ntozake Shange - Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo

Ever since I read read Ntozake Shange's amazing novel and read this description of Cypress, I wanted to duplicate it. Especially her eyes and lips. And I've spent the better part of a decade looking for a lipstick shade that really evoked Cypress. With no success.

So, I have taken to the web to complete my quest. Haven't made any purchases yet, but I think that I've come pretty close. What do you ladies think?

Christian Dior Diorific Lipstick - No. 016 Blackberry Flash - $28.00

Wet 'n' Wild MegaColors Lipstick, Blackberry - $1.99

Bobbi Brown Lip Sheer - Black Raspberry - $22

CoverGirl Continuous Color Lipstick, Iced Plum 59 - $5.99

MAC Lipstick Ever Embellish - $14

So, I am going to leave it to you all. Which one should I venture out to get?

About Me: So What the Eff's a BROOKLYN GEECHEE!?!?!?

" to the surprise of the spry seafarers/ sassafrass announced/ "i'ma be a cunjah." they laughed credulously/ sayin/ "you awready a geechee / how much more magic you want?"

--Ntozake Shange, "Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo"

Gee·chee(gch)
n. Coastal South Carolina and Georgia
1.
a. The Gullah creole.
b. A speaker of Gullah.
2. Offensive Used as a disparaging term for a person who speaks a nonstandard local dialect, as in Savannah, Georgia, or Charleston, South Carolina.

I don't remember when I exactly came up with "Brooklyn Geechee". I just remember that from reading "Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo" and ultimately "Daughters of the Dust" that I resonated with these woman, called backward, ignorant, heathen and immoral when they were basically trying to honor their ancestors by keeping to the old ways and living the most genuine happy life they could live.

I related to that because walking around Brooklyn, I felt like the onliest little black girl that wasn't into rockin' a name brand, thinking about dating a brother with rims (or even a car for that matter!), and listening to some of the goddess-awful music spewing out of the radio. People would see me with my gig bag on my back and go "You play the guitar?" almost with this shock. So I decided to call myself a Brooklyn Geechee : Ridiculed for being different, weird, heathen and strange.... and loving themselves and their lives regardless!