Poetics: 360 Degrees

360 DEGREES

In search of something seemingly elusive, fleeing, free– something that cannot, shall not, will not be Captured because “it,” or thy “Being,” is deep within the soul, the spirit– a spirit that also demands We, first and foremost, be comfortable with the deepness and Attractiveness of our Blackness, Preparing us for a journey that leads to our discovering our very own uniqueness, far away from the Shamelessness of sameness or being nameless, not knowing who we are because we’re not reaching For the Stars, thus, we really RE-gress when we don’t PRO-gress, so move we will, backward or Forward, 360 Degrees around the horn, following our Higher Power’s “form,” pattern, a right of way to Our destiny or backwards, reversing and rehearsing a life indelibly tied to the monotony of yesterday, The past, what was, or even worse, what never was– 360 degrees around the horn, back and forth and Forth and back, again and again we lose, we Win, but the journey is always unique, sometimes Discreet; other times we compete against others or our “Selves”– and every arrival leads To a Departure, for there is no place for complacency, a place to sit and wait and see– no, we will Move Away from whence we came, 360 degrees, eventually discovering our humanness, happily or Unhappily, depending on our direction, Which equals our destiny: to become one with our mission, Or lack there of, and so our Higher Power, despite the fact that our Blackness may be a distraction to Others but, still, we cannot let it distract us, subtract from us, lessen us, demean us, prevent us From traveling 360 degrees, hopefully, in the right direction, living and giving, learning our lessons, Again and again, living our lives 360 Degrees . . .  And counting.

Walter L. Hilliard III