A Tribute to Cheerleaders of the World- Sandra Dukes

[Prophetess Sandra Dukes, a.m.]

Inspiration is received as simple as learning the ‘A B C’s
An alphabetical puzzle deciphered the riddle
of Pharaoh’s hieroglyphics, it has traveled;
Borne of the Hebrew slave’s hope it trudged on.
Twenty-six fierce Roman soldiers marching across 500,000 continents conquering
pictures, words and stories.
Grecian artisans warring against the jailers of ignorance
a Democratic form grasping for freedom, releasing syntactic speakers into a phonetic world.
The Alpha and the Omega
Inspire me,
Inspire me to be.

Near three decades have I journeyed to return to this place.
Where I wandered long ago only to return and face
that life is more than living and living is less than being alive
that what inspired me in my youth has transpired and thrived
That the feeling that once shook my soul and brought me to joyful tears,
has crossed genders, races and chronological years
that what once was- still is -and what is has been; encrypted
replacing foolishness for wisdom
grandeur for grace
A seeking of the spirit via joy and pain, laughter and tears
Restoring the birthright of faith, out of the transgressions of fears.

With the passing of the old, the reclaiming of the new
My adage has been reformulated my observation proved untrue
My theory, life brought heartbreak my hypothesis, to hide
Life had become a place I visited, never to reside.
The theory failed in merit, a contradiction wrought
For an extroverted recluse is formed, from the bowels of a coward’s thoughts.
For joy is simply allowed when we entwine;
Our ecstasies, our agonies, our failures, our faults,
The vow of life we have persistently sought.

In seeking, I found my answer and it was akin
With Pilgrims, pioneers and farmers since time began
You cannot sow a seed on parched and barren land
The substance of the quest is in the essence of the man.



Crusading across fields of danger reaching mountains of pleasure, a theatrical plan
delivered to a campaign of invention, my transformation began.
Mounted on vast and hallowed lands
There Noble men and women, descendants of authority do sit
Caretakers of the beacon, upon which historical futures shine
Lighters of the lanterns, keepers of the minds
Rocking chaired rulers, wizards of rhymes
(Riddle) “How does one eat an elephant?”
(Answer) “One spoonful at a time.”

Inspired by this wisdom led by the beacon’s light
A journey of victory came within sight
A dominion among twin cities of Green,
where scholars echo a Ballard of wit
To someday be our privileged
To somehow grasp the gist,
To someway bear the burden
Where Cheerleading authority sits
Inspire me,
Inspire me to be.

I am inspired that we each are a universe within a universe
Tiny specks of God out of God

By the might of the pen the slayer is slain,
A lesson of a proverbial wisdom
A lesson of a philosophical claim
God is my Author and He knows me by name
This Tedious Journey I traveled, crossing my Red Seas
My testimony is that my Lord Jesus carried me.

UN harnessed mules, vacant birdcages, cultivated roots in my mother’s gardens, and the purple hues at the ends of rainbows
Inspire me,
The Bible, Zora, Angelou, Alice, Hailey, Gwendolyn, Truman, Doris Davis, J. California Cooper,
Inspire me to be.

I am inspired
that deep within the poetry’s womb grows words, ideas, ideals, nurtured from the umbilical blood of God and nourished by the breast milk of mankind;
Inspiring dreams, stories, lyrics and rhymes
Laying, pulsating, growing, waiting
Until its season, until its time
Floating, dancing, kicking, tearing, fighting through the passage of birth
To be seen, to be heard.
Of Shakespearian physicians, under an Amber light
Of the gatekeepers standing watch among the stacks of Constant hope.
Of The Anointed, praying generals warring for my soul.
“I was blind but now I see”
Anne Wright taught me how to “battle for my seed,”

I am inspired by transformation
From generational curses into generational blessings
The cleansing of this dirty rag
Wring out of the crevices and altars of new mornings and the dusking of the past.
Of aged Vikings bearing scars of valor, wash pot tithing with a plan, maids to mentors,
of doves becoming eagles, and of betrayals discarded on trash days.
Of the transformation from natural man beyond carnal man towards the spiritual man
The transformation of the proverbial village and child
to a proverbial world and people
I am inspired by letter O and its strength
the Over-comers and the Overseers.

“Mine eyes have seen the” blight of destruction,
only to witness hope take breath and rise again
The lifting of the iron curtain; the falling of the wall,
the burning of twin towers and the answering of the heroes’ call.

“O, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
….from sea to shining sea”
that within us the Maker has provided
….all we truly need to be

So “why should I be discouraged” at the injustice of Jena 6;
When God’s eye has kept the sparrow, there is nothing He can’t fix.
“In the beginning there was darkness …and God said let there be light.”
Therefore, my inspiration of goodness is never far from God’s sight.
Martin, Malcolm, Judges Mathis, Lopez
Inspire me,
Judges Hatchett, Toler, Cristina
Inspire me to be.

I am inspired by the colors at the end of the rainbow--
The Constant courage of the color pink
A racing faith to a cure
The Color Purple,
the psychedelic sound of Jimmy Hendrix’s purple hazed America, and Ray Charles’s blue
I am inspired by America--
me being me and you being you.


I am inspired by those who dare
Thespians floating on the Butterfly’s wing, the Hatties, Bo jangles and Haleys travailing in-flight
I am inspired by
Girlfriends with Adam’s apples – Thanks Wong Foo
who take the Boo! out of taboo,
who taught me to catwalk the walk
And how to talk that talk.

“Who I am is not a reflection of you but who I have become.”
A universal blessing given, to all, a global share
Because of you I believe,
Because of you I dare.
And the roll call goes on…
Inspire me,
Inspire me to be.

I am inspired by the sent blessings from a God-sent man
Of teachers who became “Papas”
Uncles that became brothers and brothers that became friends,
Friends that became sisters and sisters that became friends.
The strength of a Godson once caged now set free
Breaking the curses and claiming a father’s dignity.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen.”
The pride given to my heritage for all that it is,
I embrace and pay tribute to
From slaves and servants, to wash women and yard boys, the well of faith sprang
forging the way through illiteracy, stumbling/ falling, sometimes crawling;
Readers of the Word and the academic world
Maids to cosmetologists, bus porters to the pentagon, privates to captains and commanders--
the Begat and the Begotten
The uncovering of the well
Inspire me,
Inspire me to be.

Who I am is not a reflection of you, but who I have become
And you,
Inspire me,
Inspire me to be. And the roll call goes on and on and on……