Duet Poem

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Jocelynn Hunter Dow

 

come on and sing with me 

let us rejoice with our lungs 

becoming one 

come on and sing with me 

with the whistling birds 

and the whirring bees, 

the warm breath of the sun 

is shouting “it’s spring! it’s spring!” 

come on and sing with me 

make your song touch the exosphere  

‘til it turns the bright sky to the darkest blue 

‘til it turns an anthem into a lullaby 

come on and sing with me 

please 

please 

please don’t cry  

instead, have your throat become your eyes  

to revere the rhythm of the soul 

reverberating within the ribs and the skull 

as it seeps into the spine 

come on and sing with me 

we ain’t gotta be good

we ain’t gotta be happy 

we ain’t gotta be a happy song

just sing with me

c’mon

let’s sing together

 

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Jocelynn Hunter Dow is in junior in Mason Gross School of the Arts, as well as the Honors College and Douglass programs. Hailing from Monmouth County, New Jersey, Jocelynn is majoring in Visual Arts with dual minors in Creative Writing and Africana Studies. Using art as her limn of expression, Jocelynn’s work focuses on the themes of identity and femininity; and communicates the beauty, power, and boldness of Blackness. She wants her creations to inspire others and ignite change, bring communities together, and give an expressive voice to the unheard. Growing up, Jocelynn did not often see herself reflected in the images she saw on the screen or in the stories she read. For this reason, her creations primarily focus on positively representing the Black female form. 

Jocelynn wrote this poem in a creative writing class taught by Professor Joanna Fuhrman. Fuhrman selected the piece for inclusion in WHR.