For Aretha; Starting At A Poem by Frank Meintjies

The queen
came walking
down the generations
down terraced times
in step, in rhythm; in dressy shoes
tinged with sand

see the coil of light
going back
all the way
to natal points; twirling
through twilight, swathes of grey
swishing dark

aretha, diana, dionne, gladys
all the way
back
to root-sounds and route-songs of
nina, billy, ella, mahalia

who, for those to come
will pick up the neon mike
lift the red-edged quaver
light the new candle
scented with lavender, jasmine
human touch & rosewater
... who will scat one beat behind
the thump-thump
of changing times?

who to make the grooves...
the diamond-tipped voice
to mark the surface
of our hearts...
who will puncture the flesh
& write the birthmarks
in future times?

who will build
the bridges of sound
will trace
the lunar rainbow
over time-forged waterfalls?

from slavery
via black presidents
(here & there)that shone as buttons
passing the ramparts
of those who trumpet war
by boulevards of hanging trees & hanging dreams
by perverse nests
of jim crows; in reeds, by hollows
by the waters of babylon

a thread of light
a rope... now joining, now enfolding
in parts, stained with colour purple
chafed by rivets, ikes that spike & knuckles that buckle
yet holding

let's walk the line together
starting at A