& who will honour you right: d’angelo/& every song needs a witness
by TINA ZAFREEN ALAM
in Fall 2024
Trey Campbell, from Room Service, 2024
& who will honour you right: d’angelo
i don’t fear depth or dark
anything worthwhile grows in its reflection
so i face darkness in the deep
of my own eyes in the mirror
“voodoo changed my life”
stretched across my chest like a banner
you saved mine
& d’angelo’s
& isn’t still breathing the best honour[1]
if i do anything i will commit
this to memory
time is imperfect measure
knowing
this is nothing
short of knowing god
[1] "i didn't really think i had a problem like that," he says, taking a hit off a newport. "i felt like, you know, all i got to do is clean up and i'll be fine. just get in the studio and i'll be fucking fine."
what finally made him see, he says, was the passing of j dilla, the revered hip-hop producer, on february 10, 2006. they'd just talked on the phone, d'angelo says, when suddenly, j dilla was gone at 32.
- amy wallace, “amen! (d’angelo’s back),” gq
& every song needs a witness
soundtrack: stakes is high, de la soul
what stakes are higher
we’re talking living & dying
i don’t want to gamble
is sample resurrection
yes, ahmad jamal’s still here[1]
& you took these keys from “swahililand”
from ’74, just like you, but you died
does a melody unheard still sing
does a song die once its maker dies
twice, when we stop playing it
or is it its maker who dies
again, when their song goes unheard
is sample resuscitation
invitation to afterlife
or am i still in denial years later
i defy your death by repeat listening,
dancing, i let you move me
& this forever sounds new york,
defines a hustle drives forth as if moving
forward is possible with only enough will
but at what cost, always
a cost & i hope we never let you die
that second time
[1] both dave “trugoy the dove” jolicoeur (september 21, 1968 – february 12, 2023) and ahmad jamal (july 2, 1930 – april 16, 2023) passed since this poem was written. may we never let them die that second time.
TINA ZAFREEN ALAM is a diasporic Bangladeshi poet who does not believe in space, time, or borders. She is calling on you to commit your heart, body, and soul to fighting for the liberation of Palestine and of all oppressed people around the globe. We owe it to ourselves, and to one another. Revolution until complete liberation for all of us, all together.
