Excerpts from Renaissance
The after scent of rain hangs in the air
Breathe deeply of this aura
Expel the staleness of enclosures
It is strange how problems which loomed
so greatly at one time, once digested by inner truth,
are relegated to minute cubicles of the past
While pleasantries, so insignificant at their inception,
have resurfaced and pulsate
a glowing/growing relief
It is strange how the thirst of the driest day
is quenched by the fiercest of storms
The calmness which ensues is a mystical lull
broken only by stirrings of new life
–Tony Mitchelson
Copyright © 2008 Tony Mitchelson. Reprinted from the book Linyak Love
Tony Mitchelson is a writer, poet, and co-founder of The Linyak Project, an arts, cultural, and educational organization based in Harlem. The Newark, NJ resident has been published in African Voices Magazine, Blind Beggar Press Anthology Collector’s Edition, Brilliant Flame Amiri Baraka’s Anthology, 50BOLD.com, and Merge Literary Magazine.