after Lucille Clifton

frederick
if i be you
let me not forget
to be the mouth
open
to be the wordsmith
at the page’s edge
writing
to be free, period
and langston
if i be you
let me in my knowing
not forget
to ask my real countrymen
ain’t i africa too
and
grandfathers
if i be you
let me not forget
how to use my hands
to trust only the dirt
to love my people
to carry my own seeds