Artists and Paying Bills

Last week I went to the India Arie concert at Chene Park. And it was a great concert...it was so good that even though she was forced to wrap it up mid-song due to rain that insisted on joining her onstage--even with that I was still happy and contented afterwards. But this post is not about dear, sweet India Arie who described how she almost lost the love of making music working in the recording industry.

As people were starting to fill the venue, Jessica Care Moore shared some of her poetry with us. One of her poems described her financial struggles. And there seems to be something wrong with her having to struggle to pay for her son's daycare bills. She has performed her work internationally. I first heard her perform in 1996. I was in New Jersey for the summer and we took a field trip to Amateur Night at the Apollo. I heard "Blackgirl Juice," which affected me enough that I talked about the poem, quoted a snippet on the little web page I had back then, and remembered her nearly a decade later when I heard her perform in Atlanta.

[I grabbed the poem below online, no guarantees that it's formatted properly here. But it is in her book, The Words Don't Fit in My Mouth (that link takes you to its page on Amazon)]


BLACKGIRL JUICE
By Jessica Care Moore

MAPLE syrup

In the morning

Brown sugar that sweetens
Cinnamon twists in apple cider
Magic Black dust is inside her

Wheat Bread with homemade spread
This Juice goes straight to the head
Coffee without dairy cream
Any man’s dream

Black cat That will bring you luck
Aphrodisiac you’d love to suck!
You wish! Black twisted licorice.
Cooking black-eyed peas.
Wearing black knee-high stockings
Black pump. Black hat. Black dress.
Black eyes.

This juice makes you wise
Allows the sun to shine
Black eagle. Black butterfly.
Black tears she sometimes cries
But one sip and you’ll believe
Braided hair natural cut or curly weave

Nails with acrylic tips, and wide-shaped hips
Most men fiend to hump her
Nails cut off she has a nice touch on her jumper.

Revolutionary waters she’s your mother,
Auntie, sister-friend and daughter
You oughta recognize her eyes

She rolls them when she’s mad and
she keeps her eyes wide open whe she makes love
cause she’s bad to the BONE!
Blackgirl Juice is a nutrititional boost
Bananas Strawberries and Melanin Nectar
No average man can affect her

Ingredients are Spicy-Mild-Sweet
Burns your tongue like an Jalapeno
Pepper steak with authentic chopsticks

First round draft pick. Black Afro Pic.
The one with the fist!
Tight.
Deep.
Loose.
Have you ever tasted Black Girl Juice?
You might want to pour some inside a jar
let it linger on your top lip
take it on a trip

or dab small circles of it on your wrists ankles or ears
And if you’re daring enough to ask…..
I’ve got some Black Girl Juice
If you have an empty glass