Poet Laureate

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​E. Stanley Richardson

E. Stanley Richardson is an American Poet, Actor, Playwright and Producer. He is the Founder and Director of ARTSPEAKSgnv Inc., the North Central Florida Youth Poet Laureate Program, and the Bard & Broadside North Central Florida Poetry Festival. He is the au​thor of the 2017 award-winning book of poetry, "Hip Hop is Dead - Long Live Hip Hop. The Birth, Death and Resurrection of Hip Hop Activism". Mr. Richardson is the Inaugural Poet Laureate of Alachua County, Florida (2020 - present).

Poet laureate and citizen scientist combines art and health

Poetry Readings

​

Poem Reading at Lake Forest Elementary School Playground Dedication

​​

​

Reading of "EDEN"

​​​

​

Readings of "Century Oak" and "An Elegy for Black Bodies"

​​

Reading of "Make Me Wanna Holla"

​​​

Poems

AN ELEGY FOR BLACK BODIES 

1867 - 1924

Truth And Reconciliation.

Alachua County, Florida 

 

 

Your favorite pastime

 

Bonfires and   

backwood 

family gatherings 

beneath

the live oak canopy

sprawling confederate ivy

the smell of sweet magnolia

and

burning flesh 

permeate

our history

 

die hard 

 

die hard your heroes 

the old southern 

maestros

who strummed 

the swinging rope

emittiing

the strange 

familiar sounds 

of the peculiar 

instruments 

played down south

in dixie 

killing us

 

but i wasn't 

there!

 

we were all 

there!

 

just as we are all 

here

bound by our 

systemic

assembled together

not by happenstance or 

accident

but by a divine

power

much greater than ourselves

urging spirits

ghosts of 

bystanders

terrified,

afraid,  quiet, complicit, loud , boastful  

howling 

 

innocent

 

taken

 

dazzled by strangness

enthralled by the spectacle of

dangling black bodies

suspended in

atrocity

blowing in the breeze of

white supremacy

 

you 

revelled in our terror

our inherited 

horror

trauma passed down as gifts 

carved into us

 

you 

took

pieces of us

 

souvenirs

 

you 

took

pieces of us 

 

heirlooms

 

relics of our

comingled existence

 

 

but i wasnt

there!

 

we were all 

there!

 

just as we are all 

here 

 

today 

 

in this place 

at this hour

 

we confess

 

we seek 

a collective

mending

 

we seek

to heal

historical wounds

 

we seek

atonement

 

recompense through our reconning

forgiveness through our efforts

 

we grapple with

deeds 

we struggle with 

words  

 

inadequate language 

 

with each utterance of your name

victims of sanctioned violence 

we 

acknowledge your humanity 

 

taken

 

given

 

we 

honor you with hymns

lifted 

up from the backbone of our 

blues

we 

celebrate you in our mourning

we 

give reverence to your eternal spirits

 

we vow

never 

to repeat such atrocities again

 

you 

who have waited too long for

 us

 

we 

bid you

 

your 

descendants 

 

solace

 

may your souls rest 

in everlasting

peace

 

-          E Stanley Richardson

 

 

CENTURY OAK ___ A Conversation With A Tree

 

As I walked by

 

The Tree 

…. Cried out

 

Why don't you hold me anymore 

Sit beneath my shade

We barely ever talk

Like we once did

 

100 years ago

 

I know 

You blame me

 

For being

 

Deep inside

Us

 

Hidden

In the blind spot of memory

 

All of

Our

Pent up

Pain

 

We

Must Feel

 

I know 

 

You blame me

 

Because,

 

If I 

Had not been

 

They

 Would not have 

 

Dangled 

Your Brother

Your Sister

Your Father

Your Mother

 

....  From my limbs 

 

There would be

No blood 

On my branches

 

I would

 Be 

 

Only brown 

... Like you

 

With green hair 

 

Without tinge

 

With

No hint of red

 On 

My wood 

 

Please forgive me

 

 Had I known

 

If I could

 

... I would have

 

Plucked myself

Up

 

By 

The Root!

 

-          E Stanley Richardson

 

 ​

___ Make Me Wanna Holler

bah dah dee dop!

bop bop bah dah dee dah!

 

make me wanna holler

throw up both my hands

 

make me wanna holler

throw up both my hands

 

 

 

 

mother mother

there are too many of you crying

brother brother brother

there are far too many of you dying

you know 

we

got to find 

a way

 

 

 

my country tis of thee

sweet land

of liberty

of thee

 i

 

i   . .. i  .    i ...   i

 

i 

 

i was thinking

 

if the poet sings

will it make the suffering

more real

 

if i

composed a concerto

instead of a poem

arranged an orchestra

put the pain to music

could you

then

feel

 

the rhythm scream

 

if i

resurrected

 

not 

the son of man

but

marvin gaye,  bo diddley, tom petty

and

we sat in a holy circle 

singing 

willie green's blues 

 

my baby

 ain't got no shoes

or

 

healthcare

 

would you then

dare to care

 

 

      but the poet

 

the poet doesn't 

sing

the poet

poems

 

as did 

the prophets to the kings

 

when covid came

 

when covid came

a plague

marching 

its acapella death song

laid bare our ugly

underbelly

 

rolled us over

 

onto

our exceptional

systemic side

 

showed the world

 

how we live

how we die

how we 

fall 

through

huge gaping holes

that

you consider

cracks

 

showed the world

 

how we live

how we die

 

disproportionate

essential

less privileged

workers

indigenous

black and brown

the other side of town

redlined over eons

stacked

like

tuna 

in a tin

 

unable to escape

death's breath

 

its six feet tentacles

 

when covid came

knocking

at our 

toil and scuffle

 

 

 

 

    /  this ain't

 

living

 

 

 

 

ghosts of the uninsured

gone too soon

to woe 

and dust

haunt us 

from the other side of

soup lines

just below

the poverty

index

 

give us healthcare

      give us healthcare

expand medicaid

 

give us healthcare

if you care

 

     if you care

if you care

 

if you care

 

 

 

 

to have no concept of

terror

the sickening

unknown

what holds tomorrow

today

made all too real

the cost of your child's next meal

weighed against

the price of a

pill

 

to have to choose

is

horror

 

 

 

something heavy

 

something heavy

thick and wicked

this way

wails

 

in the halls of

injustice

 

just outside

the lawmaker's

chamber

 

you severed your soul

to spite 

your neighbor's 

getting

 

righteousness wallows

in 

disbelief

 

citizens 

 

citizens poor

sick 

and dying

petition powers

for 

relief

 

brazen neglect

a life

of 

grief

 

 

 

 

    / this ain't

 

living

 

 

 

 

give us healthcare

 

give us

healthcare

 

expand medicaid

 

render us

aid

 

give us healthcare

if

you

care

 

if you care 

to do 

the human thing

    the good thing

the right

thing

 

empathy  

     decency

 

compassion

is 

all

that is 

required

 

without politics

    without political party partisan

antics

without debate or

hate

     without dispise

peering through

racist eyes

 

though I fear

there in 

lies

 

the rub

_____________________________

 

© E Stanley Richardson  ​

___ The Big Picture

 

A long way

from Mohawk Valley

 

 

A young spirit going back

to the natural world

 

 

To nest in a wetland

 

 

A creek between

two lakes

 

 

A home

to create

 

 

To trace human figures on canvas

Capture complex ___ shadows

The Light

Pouring like

Gold over nature's

Green

 

 

A symphony of hues

In

Open

Air

 

 

What it feels like

To be here

In this

Place

 

 

To witness

The angle of

Sunset

Like no other

 

 

To discover

Friends worth fighting for

 

 

Seventeen Sisters

__ Sampson Point

Cypress Island

__ Little Hammock

Burnt Island

__Grassy Point

and

Twenty Brothers

 

 

To be

Gifted a glimpse of the coming

Nightmare and

Trauma

 

 

What the land must feel when dug into by the uncaring

Claws of

Commerce

 

 

To wonder

 

 

What will the shoreline look like in

one hundred

Years

 

 

To see

The big picture

 

 

When reminded

Just how much a dollar costs

 

 

A mother

Lion

In her

Den

 

 

To defend

 

 

A creek between

Two lakes

___ Fare Thee Well Commissioners

To be
Or not to be

To be
Or not to be

To Hutch
Or not to. Hutch

To Byerly
Or not to. Byerly

These have been
Our questions
For
Many many many many many many many
Years

Tis true

_ Some

A few

Have wondered
Painstakingly pondered
Just what to do
With these
Two
Commissioners

__ Our elected
Petitioners

Of our
Legislative
Good will

Until

Such a day as
Today

Bitter sweet

Shall I
Repeat

Bitter sweet

Bitter bitter bitter
Sweet

To friend and foe
Alike

__ Though
The latter
Bid you
Take
A hike
much sooner

___ I suppose

But
Make no mistake
Be assured
There are
Those

Who
Enthusiastically commend
You

So
__ Commissioners

Fare Thee Well

And
As far as I can tell

The only question
That remains
Is

Now
Who
Will provide
You

Your
Backup
Material?

___ Bread And A Song

 

Before    sixteen nineteen

 

 

Before sixteen nineteen

Seventeen

Seventy

Six

 

 

What if

This thing that ails us

We cannot fix

 

 

Though I fear

We may not survive

Another

Near death experience

 

 

How denial grows

Reluctant

To

 

 

swallow

A fishbone caught

in

 

 

history's throat

 

 

We need bread

__ We need bread

We need bread and

A

Song

 

 

Glory Glory Hallelujah

 

 

__ Glory Glory Hallelujah

Since

I laid my burden

Down

 

 

____

 

 

Before    _sixteen nineteen

 

 

Before

Sixteen

Nineteen

 

 

Seventeen

Seventy

Six

 

 

What if

This thing that ails us

We cannot

Fix.

__ On this side of

Creativity

 

 

What if__

The theory of

Relativity

Resides in the weary words of a sharecropper's Sanctified

Song

Sincerely

Sung

 

 

Glory Glory Hallelujah

 

 

__ Glory Glory Hallelujah

Since I laid my burden

Down

 

 

Plays on the radio

inside the cockpit of a deuce and a quarter

__ Trues and Vogues traveling

North on

Interstate seventy five

Toward the Florida Georgia

Line

 

 

In search of the

Einstein

 

 

Rosen

Bridge

 

 

Take exit

E

Equals

M

C

Square

 

 

There

__ Keep right

Follow that glorious beam of light

And proceed through the wondrous

Wormhole

 

 

Another dusty road to

Damascus

 

 

To be ministered by fire

 

 

Kneel

__ Kneel at the feet of the beautiful

Magician

And

Collectively we all

Petition

For a

Divine

__ Do-Over

 

 

Moreover

__ A Radical Love

 

 

A radical

Love

 

 

That cannot be tricket by

Hate

 

 

At the count of three

Open the

Floodgate

 

 

One

Two

Three

 

 

 

 

.

 

Snap out of it!

 

 

 

.

.

Meanwhile

__ Back on

Earth

 

 

If only

_ Love

 

 

If only love

Smiled

 

 

Lifted a finger

Held a homeless hand

Helped a

Neighbor

 

 

Plant a frozen heart

In the warm soil of an

Organic

Community

Garden

 

 

To grow flowers again

 

 

To push

Upward

 

 

__ Anything but

Daisies

 

 

Why not

Daisies

 

 

Yes

Daisies or

 

 

Daffodils

 

 

Because

__ To love

 

 

To love is to truly

Live

 

 

Love is

 

 

Why

We're

Here

 

 

Glory Glory Hallelujah

__ Glory Glory Hallelujah

 

 

If

We

Lay

Our

Burden

 

 

Down

 

 

_____________________________

©E. Stanley Richardson 02/2021

SANKOFA _SISTER

 

Oh Sankofa__

"Oh Sankofa High on the heavens

You soar My soul is soon

 

 

To follow you

Back to yesterday's moon

Will it remember me?

 

 

Back to yesterday's sun!

It will rekindle me!

Rekindle the spirit

Into tomorrow and high on the wind.

Sankofa flies Again and Again"

 

 

This is not the end

Amen

But

An

Ever

Learning

Constant

 

 

Beginning

 

 

Of

Excavation__ Of

Uncovering

 

 

Of Truth

and

Reconciliation

A reconnecting with our past Altered

Distorted

And Forgotten Selvesa

A gathering of songs

 

 

A hymnal of collected voices Whispered in the wind

A gift given

 

 

Amen

Of history's telling

 

 

A treasure to be shared amongst us

 

 

Amen

 

 

She

__ Who sifted

Througyh recollection

Lifted

Memory's

 

 

Hushed and

Heavy

Stones

Unrolled our

Hidden

 

 

Scrolls

And Read

 

 

Our

 

 

Words

Aloud.

Amen

 

 

She

__ Who encouraged us

To listen

To honor each note Of

History's

Howling Symphonies

 

 

Dared us to dance The Ancestors'

Sacred

 

 

Dance.

Amen

 

 

She

__ Who showered us with her radiance

 

 

Shined a joyous glow

She

who empowered us

 

 

Helped us to know

The Way Back is

The Way Forward

 

 

Amen

 

 

This is not the end

 

 

Amen

 

 

 

 

But An

Ever

Learning

 

 

Constant

Beginning.

 

 

Amen

 

 

Sankofa Sister

 

 

Flies

Again

And

Again

 

 

Sankofa Sister

Flies

Again

And

Again

 

 

_____________________ Ase'

THE PERKINS' HOUSE

Alachua County, Florida 

Truth And Reconciliation / Dudley Farm

 

 

And the truth

And the truth shall make us

 

 

 

Free

 

 

 

Tell the truth

Tell the truth     shame the devil

 

 

But

What is truth ?

 

 

The question     The question

Pontius

Pilate

Posed

 

 

Quid Est Veritas ?

 

 

There are

No

Alternative     truths

But only        Truth

 

 

Truth

Reconciled    here

By a     house

 

 

How candle light    leans

Into        History

 

 

What has entered      and

What     exits

Doorways

 

 

How the floor

Creaks

is how      an old house

Speaks

 

 

The wood

The windows

Wind     and

Sorrow

 

 

how the joists       beam    hope and promise

Of what awaits

Tomorrow

 

 

The thoughts and prayers

Of what

A

Mantle      holds

 

 

Above

What    wishes

Danced     in the fireplace

 

 

The children's laughter

Still lingers

in the

Loft

 

 

The toil and

Timber

Does the tin roof

Remember

Each season's

Sound of rain

 

 

The living

The striving

The surviving

The joy and the pain

 

 

Of

Something

Built in bondage and

Emancipated

 

 

Fashioned     into

A

Family's

Home

 

 

Here and now

Memories

History    yet    still

 

 

The Perkins' House

Stands

__

 

E Stanley Richardson

05/04/2024

______ SHIELD OF VALOR

 

 

Oh Shield of Valor

 

 

No Greater Love

Than To Lay Down Your Life For A Friend

 

 

A Country

 

 

________

 

 

Oh Shield of Valor

 

 

Oh Shield of Valor

Oh Somber Rose

 

 

In Honor of Those.

Heroes

 

 

Patriots

 

 

Sons and Daughters

 

 

Rest Here

For

A While

 

 

Lie Down

In Green Pastures

Beneath

The

Firmament's

 

 

Blue

Skies

 

 

As We Are Left To Ponder

The Reasons And

 

 

The Why's

Of

War

 

 

To Comfort

 

 

The Parts Of Us

That Remember

 

 

A Soldier's Touch

 

 

To Mourn

The Martyred

 

 

Our Sacred Thoughts

 

 

Golden

 

 

Glistening

In This

 

 

May

Morning

Sun

 

 

A Holy Affection

 

 

Though Even

The Weather

At Times

Is Weary

 

 

The Summer Breeze

Feels

Jagged

 

 

Our Heads

Heavy

With

Mountains Of

Memories

 

 

So

We Stand

 

 

We Stand

Upon The Rock

Of Ages

Told

 

 

And We

Hold

 

 

We Hold

OnTo

One Another

 

 

And

The

Promised

Dawn Of

Joy

 

 

To Soothe

The Sorrows Of

Sacrifice

 

 

Oh Shield of Valor

 

 

Oh Shield Of Valor

Oh Somber Rose

 

 

In honor Of Those

Heroes

 

 

Forever In Our

Hearts

 

 

Are Those Who Served As

Ramparts

 

 

Against The Bane

And

Peril

 

 

Who Kept The Foe

At Bay

Who Helped Preserve.

Our Way

 

 

Of Life

 

 

We Honor You.

This Day

 

 

Oh Shield of Valor

 

 

Oh Shield Of Valor

Oh Somber Rose

 

 

In honor Of Those

Heroes

 

 

For Whom The Trumpet Sounds

The Bugle Blows

 

 

And

 

 

The

Bells Of

Freedom

Toll

 

 

Oh Shield of Valor

 

 

Oh Shield Of Valor

Oh Somber Rose

 

 

In honor Of Those

Heroes

 

 

Gone On

To Glory

 

 

Who Now

Reside

In Heaven's Realm

 

 

Beyond The

Tide

Of

Time And

Space

 

 

In

The

Eternal

 

 

Halls Of Grace

 

 

Oh Shield of Valor

 

 

Oh

Shield

Of

Valor

 

 

Oh

Somber

 

 

Rose

 

 

E Stanley Richardson

Memorial Day Ceremony 2024

Alachua County, Florida

​