Joy Unspeakable by Barbara Holmes

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Joy Unspeakable

is not silent,

it moans, hums, and bends

to the rhythm of a dancing universe.

It is a fractal of transcendent hope,

a hologram of God’s heart,

a black hole of unknowing.

For our free African ancestors,

joy unspeakable is drum talk

that invites the spirits

to dance with us,

and tell tall tales by the fire.

For the desert Mothers and Fathers,

joy unspeakable is respite

from the maddening crowds,

And freedom from

             “church” as usual.

For enslaved Africans during the

Middle Passage,

joy unspeakable is the surprise

of living one more day,

and the freeing embrace of death

            chosen and imposed.

For Africans in bondage

in the Americas,

joy unspeakable is that moment of

mystical encounter

when God tiptoes into the hush arbor,

testifies about Divine suffering,

and whispers in our ears,

            “Don’t forget,

            I taught you how to fly

            on a wing and a prayer,

                        when you’re ready

                                    let’s go!”

Joy Unspeakable is humming

“how I got over”

after swimming safely

to the other shore of a swollen Ohio river

when you know that you can’t swim.

It is the blessed assurance

            that Canada is far,

            but not that far.

For Africana members of the

“invisible institution,” the

emerging black church,

joy unspeakable is

practicing freedom

while chains still chafe,

singing deliverance

            while Jim Crow stalks,

trusting God’s healing

            and home remedies,

            prayers, kerosene,

                        and cow patty tea.

For the tap dancing, boogie woogie,

            rap/rock/blues griots

            who also hear God,

joy unspeakable is

that space/time/joy continuum thing

            that dares us to play and pray

            in the interstices of life,

it is the belief that the phrase

            “the art of living”

            means exactly what it says.

             Joy Unspeakable

                         is

both FIRE AND CLOUD,

the unlikely merger of

            trance and high tech lives

            ecstatic songs and a jazz repertoire

                        Joy unspeakable is

                        a symphony of incongruities

                                    of faces aglow and hearts

                                    on fire

                                                and the wonder of surviving together. [1]