{"author":"Yusef Komunyakaa","author_id":"Yusef+Komunyakaa","total_quotes":12,"quotes":[{"text":"I originally wanted to embrace the imagery and forthrightness of rap music. There are some interesting, dynamic voices in rap. But I find most of it irresponsible in its overt violence and commercialization of anger. As artists, we believe we can will action through language. If that's the case, we have to take responsibility for what we say.","author":"Yusef Komunyakaa","tags":["music","responsibility "],"id":31783,"author_id":"Yusef+Komunyakaa"},{"text":"I'm turning you into a girlchasing a butterfly, a she-wolfon a hilltop, \u0026 then back into a woman.","author":"Yusef Komunyakaa","tags":["girl"],"id":48563,"author_id":"Yusef+Komunyakaa"},{"text":"I ate mythology \u0026 dreamt'- Yusef Komunyakaa (Blackberries).","author":"Yusef Komunyakaa","tags":["blackberries","dream","myth","mythology"],"id":56132,"author_id":"Yusef+Komunyakaa"},{"text":"Through the years I have seen myself as a peaceful person, but the awareness of the anger is part of that process.","author":"Yusef Komunyakaa","tags":["myself","peaceful","process "],"id":62835,"author_id":"Yusef+Komunyakaa"},{"text":"See how forgiving - how brave nature is.","author":"Yusef Komunyakaa","tags":["forgiveness","forgiving","life","natural-world","nature"],"id":89825,"author_id":"Yusef+Komunyakaa"},{"text":"Years ago you followed someonehere, in love with breathkissing the nape of your neck,back when it was easy to beat least two places at once.","author":"Yusef Komunyakaa","tags":["kiss"],"id":129461,"author_id":"Yusef+Komunyakaa"},{"text":"I’ve been here before, dreaming myselfbackwards, among grappling hooks of light.True to the seasons, I’ve lived every wordspoken. Did I walk into someone’s nightmare?","author":"Yusef Komunyakaa","tags":["poetry"],"id":194890,"author_id":"Yusef+Komunyakaa"},{"text":"We were born between Oh Yeah\u0026 Goddammit. I knew lifeBegan where I stood in the dark,Looking out into the light,\u0026 that sometimes I could seeEverything through nothing.The backyard trees breathedLike a man running from himselfAs my brothers backed awayFrom the screendoor.","author":"Yusef Komunyakaa","tags":["birth","born"],"id":216442,"author_id":"Yusef+Komunyakaa"},{"text":"A goddess of dawnscooted under a zing of barbed wireto witness your birth.","author":"Yusef Komunyakaa","tags":["birth","goddess"],"id":268130,"author_id":"Yusef+Komunyakaa"},{"text":"Title: Blue Light Lounge Sutra For The Performance Poets At Harold Park Hotelthe need gotta beso deep words can'tanswer simple questionsall night long notesstumble off the tongue\u0026 color the air indigoso deep fragments of gut\u0026 flesh cling to the songyou gotta get into itso deep salt crystalizes on eyelashesthe need gotta beso deep you can vomit up ghosts\u0026 not feel brokentill you are no morethan a half ounce of goldin painful brightnessyou gotta get into itblow that saxophoneso deep all the sex \u0026 dope in this worldcan't erase your needto howl against the skythe need gotta beso deep you can'tjust wiggle your hips\u0026 rise up out of itchaos in the cosmosmodern man in the pepperpotyou gotta get hookedinto every hungry grooveso deep the bomb lockedin rust opens like a fistinto it into it so deeprhythm is pre-memorythe need gotta be basicanimal need to see\u0026 know the terrorwe are made of honeycause if you wanna dancethis boogie be readyto let the devil use your headfor a drum.","author":"Yusef Komunyakaa","tags":["inspirational","poetry"],"id":294533,"author_id":"Yusef+Komunyakaa"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":12,"pages":2,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}