Welcome, all. My name is Kurtis Lamkin and I am a poet born and raised in Philadelphia although Charleston, SC is my home now. I compose and perform praise poems on the Kora, a beautiful 21-string West African harp/lute. For years I have toured the United States, performing at festivals, community centers, prisons and universities, but also listening to the people and the land of my country. My travels have brought me to a practice of what in West Africa is called “Djelia,” which combines poetry, music and voice into one sound: Praise - especially the praise that comes from sacrifice.
In addition to the performances, I have made several albums, including Love Life, El Shabazz, and Queen of Carolina. Some of my poems have been published in anthologies and magazines, and I served as the Bourne Poetry Chair at Georgia Tech, and as Poet in Residence at The New School for Social Research. Mainly though, it is the adventure of turning poems into trusty companions that inspires me these days. Please feel free to think of this site as a kind of boat where you can rest your troubles and just sail along any time you like.
Golden Season
I shoulder my son over dead stalks
feel him up there rocking
a captain taller than we'll ever be alone
He trips corn rows like a one-man kindergarten
scattering south toward woods
senile in far haze
yelping like a harmonica in search of a bootdance
If I could teach I would tell him
men are longitude, women latitude
and wherever you stand is the top of the world
What else can you tell a boy
who likes flying sparrows tumbling and being amazed
You know he's not a herd of palominos
but he thinks he's free.