.

.

 

 

 

“The Peace in Perfection” by Vakseen

.

.

Beautiful Human Beings

Beautiful skin,
infinite shades & tones
deep black to crescent white,
golden yellow to indigenous red.

Beautiful languages,
Swahili, Gaelic, Creole, Hebrew,
Portuguese, Spanish, English.
French, Sign Language and thousands more.

Children of Israel, Christ, Buddha,
Jehovah, Allah, and all religions
migrating from land to land
worshiping heaven and earth.

Singing, drumming,
dancing, teaching,
conversing.

.

Listen to Ms. Baptiste read this poem

.

.

___

.

.

Jerrice J. Baptiste is a poet and author of eight books. She was the recipient of a residency for The Women’s Leadership Program at The Omega Institute, NY, 2019.  Her poems have been published and are forthcoming in The Yale Review; Kosmos Journal; Mantis; Penumbra Literary & Art Journal; Shambhala Times; The Caribbean Writer; West Trestle Review; The Lake Poetry Journal; The Tulane Review; Autism Parenting Magazine; So Spoke the Earth: Anthology of Women Writers of Haitian Descent and many others. She also facilitates creative writing workshops. Her poems and collaborative songwriting are on the Grammy award winning album Many Hands: Family Music for Haiti.  Jerrice is the host of “Women of Note” on WKZE, 98.1 FM in Red Hook, NY where she enjoys playing jazz & world music for her international audience. Visit her at Guanabanabooks.com to learn more about her work. 

.

.

___

.

.

Born in Athens, GA (1979) and raised in Jacksonville, FL, Otha Davis III (also known as  Vakseen) is a self-taught, museum-exhibited artist and a multi-platinum music executive, producer & songwriter.  While working on hit records has played a driving force in his career, Vakseen has been an active realist painter since moving to Los Angeles in 2011. Known for his Vanity Pop, collage-influenced paintings, his artwork has been exhibited by the Ontario Museum of History & Art, Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, Spectrum Miami/Art Basel, Adidas, Vans, BBC World News, HBO’s Insecure, La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Flinders Lane Gallery, Zhou B Art Center, Julien’s Auctions, Gallery 1988, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, the University of California Los Angeles, Bombay Saaphire Gin, the city of Los Angeles, Gallery 825, Abend Gallery,   Baton Rouge Gallery, and Soho House London. His artwork has also been published in various magazines in print and online including American Art Collector, Buzzfeed, Complex Magazine, Juxtapoz Magazine, Hi-Fructose Magazine, LA Weekly, Vibe Magazine, PoetsArtists, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, Professional Artist Magazine, High Times Magazine, Kolaj Magazine, Gay Times, BOOOOOOOM and Supersonic Art.

To visit his website, click here

.

.

Listen to a 1973 recording of Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen’s “But Beautiful,” performed by Bill Evans (piano), Stan Getz (tenor sax), Ron Carter (bass) and Elvin Jones (drums). 

 

 

.

.

.