"holster." ft. MoRuf

As of late, poetry has been a strong source of inspiration for me.

There’s this poetry book that’s had a GRIP on me for the past few months called “One Last Word” by Nikki Grimes. I’ll do my best to explain the concept here:

Nikki shares sections and/or full poems by other poets in this book. She then takes the last word of every line of that excerpt or full poem and writes a new poem where those words are the last word in every line in her version.

[this is an incredible way to find inspiration]

This specific poem by Nikki I was reading one day took inspiration from a poem called “To Usward” by Gwendolyn Bennett. Nikki took an excerpt of it and wrote poem called “In Search of a Superpower.” There was a specific metaphor Gwendolyn used in her poem about ginger jars on a Chinese shelf. She made the connection by saying “let us be still…not self-contained with smug identity, But conscious of the strength in entity.”

After doing some research I discovered that my interpretation about the ginger jars were correct. They are a very strong ingredient used in Chinese cuisine culture. The smell and power are so potent, it lingers even after the jars are closed. Nikki expounded on this metaphor and spoke about well-known superheroes like Wonder Woman and Superman and how “these entities disguised their true might, understanding the advantage of hiding their abilities in plain sight.”

It made me think about humans and our “superpowers”. Our words, physical strength, brain power, emotions, inner worth, outer worth and how stillness, composure, and self-control are important. As the poetry inspired my production, I began creating this canvas that felt like a western movie and I thought about the toughest and wisest of Cowboys who avoided gun fights until they HAD to fight.

And when they finally fought? You found out why they learned stillness, composure, and self-control.

holster. ft. MoRuf

prod. by pat junior
bgvs. by Talaya