I heard Amiri Baraka
died
The whole Eastern Seaboard bathed in gray
Mourns the passing on of one
Who so loved and struggled
For our people
With courage and strength, he finally fell
Not afraid of the public fight
Nor scared to show his soul in light
A brilliant mind never at rest
Not many know the constant test
Of soul and mind and strength
With conscience to go to any length.
Photo source: robposse on Flickr via Creative Commons License: Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)