National Poetry Month’s Feature: Poet Buddah Desmond

Poet’s Bio: Buddah Desmond (aka BDez) is a writer/poet, artist, singer, entrepreneur, and health + wellness advocate. His writing highlights the gritty side of life, while offering messages of hope, love, healing, and resilience. His writing has appeared in numerous publications including MOOV, MUSED, MelaNation, Mixed Mag, LitMag 2020, No Line Left Behind, Osamasetorbest.com, and sana sana (vol. 1).

He’s the author of five poetry projects, Prevail: Poems on Love, Life, and Politics (2012), Exotic Shifter (2014), From The Inside Out: A Poetry Collection (2020), shifting from the inside out: love poems (2022), and Everything I Miss(ed) At Home (2023). He is a member of Gamma Xi Phi, and has served as a healing leader for the DC-based arts + faith + social justice organization, The Sanctuaries.

He recently had a few poems featured in volume 1 of Liquid Cat Quarterly, which is available to purchase on Liquid Cat Books and Amazon. He’s also in the process of selecting poems for the manuscript of his next volume of poetry tentatively titled, Coming Up From The Downside.

Deliah Lawrence: What inspired you to be a poet?

Buddah Desmond: Aside from my love of words, I feel as if I always talk about Maya Angelou’s work and the impact of hearing her poetry in the late great John Singleton’s film Poetic Justice. But prior to the influence of her work, and the work of Langston Hughes, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Nikki Giovanni, and Sonia Sanchez (to name a few), I was greatly inspired by music and the lyrics of R&B / Soul, Jazz, and Hip Hop. I learned early on it wasn’t just the music that can move the masses, but also the words or lyrics that accompany the music that can move the masses. There’s power in our words. And how we wield that power matters.

DL: If you were hosting a dinner party which three poets would be your dream guests and why?

BD: These are always the toughest questions for me because I have so many favorite poets, lol! It’s probably no surprise that I’d pick Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni, and Sonia Sanchez. The opportunity to be able to connect with them on this level would be amazing. Sharing their wisdom about the craft, their lived experiences, and their views on the world and where we’re going as a people… The conversation would be next level. And I’m quite sure the food would be phenomenal, too.

DL: What are three fun facts about yourself?

BD: If I’m remembering correctly, I caught about 35-40 fishes when out with my grandparents on our boat when I was about 7 years old.

When out crabbing with my grandparents, we caught a small diamondback terrapin turtle in the crab net. I just had to bring the turtle home. I felt we were lucky to find the turtle that day, so the turtle was aptly named “Lucky.” As you can imagine, turtles became my favorite reptile.

I met one of my biggest poetry inspirations, Sonia Sanchez, at a book signing in DC back when I was in 11^th grade. She was promoting her collection, Shake Loose My Skin: New and Selected Poems. I had the chance to meet her for a second time when she was in DC for the screening of the documentary BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez at the DC African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) in 2016.

DL: In celebration of National Poetry Month, can you share with us a few of your poems?

BD: Sure, here you go:

The Words We Used To Say

We don’t say the words we used to say
Unfamiliar words and phrases have been
rolling off our tongues
Words that we didn’t know before
Words that seem like a new language
Our common language has become an
uncommon commodity

There are more spaces between our words now
Gaps that extend beyond the concept of
distance and our understanding
Yet it’s those spaces that spoke the loudest—
sounding alarms that we needed to take heed before what we knew, what we loved, and what we cherished could be salvaged So the question now is—will we make it? Will we speak the love language we used to know so well? Let’s check the spaces between the words again The undertones may speaksing the promise of our new day.

~ Buddah Desmond | Everything I Miss(ed) At Home (2023)

BLACK NATION

Ain’t moving
Ain’t leaving
This be foundation This be salvation My emancipation

Ain’t asking permission
Ain’t seeking validation
This be affirmation
This be formation My beautiful black nation

Ain’t looking back
Ain’t falling back
This be present conscious, future forward
This be blessed, highly favored, and flavored
My liberation

Ain’t hating
Ain’t discriminating
This be loving
This be welcoming
My rhythm nation

Ain’t keeping that which serves no purpose
Ain’t settling for nothing but life’s richness and goodness
This be rebirth
This be new earth
My constitution

Ain’t moving
Ain’t leaving
This be me
This be we
My bold, beautiful, proud black nation.

~ Buddah Desmond | Everything I Miss(ed) At Home (2023)

DL: Where can readers learn more about you and your poetry?

BD: Readers can learn more here: