Comments on: REGINALD LOCKETT (1947-2008)

By: Tim Jacobs

Tim Jacobs — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:27:51 +0000

Reginald Lockett was — and is — a great guy, a terrific and versatile poet, and a friend I regret not having spent nearly enough time with. Too many years of separation. But–if we all do as well with what we know as Reginald Lockett (who can bear shortening that wonderfully poetic name?) has, none of us need to fear the Great Beyond.

By: F. A. Nettelbeck

F. A. Nettelbeck — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:05:34 +0000

just NOW googling around for a friend of me and Reggie’s whom I fear is dead and I come across this news that REGGIE IS DEAD man man too many years out of touch ain’t no good no good Roll In Peace my Brother………

By: Judy Juanita

Judy Juanita — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:27:20 +0000

reggie, I’m just mad
mad that you up and left
without so much
as a moment’s notice
mad that you left in the middle of it all
mad mad mad mad mad
come to think of it
when we met we were mad
madly in awe of the revolution
angry young poets at sf state
deliriously mad and happy to be reading
with sonia leroi don lee sarah webster fabio
askia the labries marvin x
and so mad at the world
mad at white people
mad at the system
mad at inequality
mad at the black bourgeoisie
mad at anyone who couldn’t hear us
mad mad mad mad mad
right there in the gallery lounge
at sf state with all the madness around
us and inside us and ahead of us
but I’m glad we were there in the 60s
and that we always remembered it
not everyone was too high to recall it
some of us were too mad not to remember
what we did who we did it with
how we did what we did when we were
our maddest
some said our finest
some said our worst
so what
we were mad
and now that a road
your road our road
has forked and you had to split
carrying your leather pouch and bags
on off into the great space the beyond
I’m still mad but sadgladmad crazymad
that we blossomed once in a seldom season
like bellyflowers that people have to get down
on their bellies to see
I’m not quite as mad even though
I still can’t see you
I can read you
I can’t run into you at a reading
I can rail at you through this medium
I’m so glad you marvin and I read
in oakland last fall one last time
after 40 years of madness
40 years of poetry and water
under the sf-oakland bay bridge
it is. it was. we were. we are.
goodbye brother
goodbye friend
goodbye reggie

By: lizz bronson

lizz bronson — Wed, 28 May 2008 02:12:17 +0000

Hi,

I was looking at the poetry flash site, saw the announcement, and googled him.
I started out awhile ago. I never met the man, but after reading his work, he seems like what i’ve been waiting for, what i’ve missed up til now, and i know i have to keep looking… he sounds like he must’ve been amazing.

blessings to his people and community.
lizz bronson

By: Portia Cobb-Heyward

Portia Cobb-Heyward — Sun, 25 May 2008 07:14:40 +0000

At Any Moment
(On hearing of the passing of Reggie Lockett)

I recall times back then
way
in the past
it now seems/
but like it
could happen again
at any moment

You were that essential soul/
friend and closest neighbor in the City
the one who would guide me
through the rite
to write
and call my self
poet.

I can still see your head
cocked to one side
the first time you read my words
on paper and gave an affirmative nod

I remember how
your nurturing spirit often lifted mine
and that you intuited my journey
long before I did

I can still see
your twinkling eyes and
that constant smile
& how you pridefully
embraced the books you carried-always
held tight against your chest
Close to your heart.

I hear in my head now
the quick staccato of your speech
and those weighted pauses
between and sometimes after
as if you were extracting and
holding onto its cadence

This all brings to mind
something I once read about
the spaces between the notes
in the music of
Earl Fatha Hines.

Yeah. You would know.

Cause you were a brother who was
Hip like that
A product of the good times
the Good times

But like
all of it
could happen again
at any moment.

By Portia Cobb (Heyward)
written in Charleston, South Carolina
On May 25, 2008

By: Julinda

Julinda — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:04:11 +0000

Reggie I’m Missing You Already

Reggie-
I miss your large entrance each morning when you came through the doors to work.
Your brassy voice always let me know that you were there.
I miss your calls when you were stuck in traffic or just simply running late.
I miss your stories of your father and daughters whom I never met.
But feel like I know.
I will miss your straight forwardness; you never compromised yourself for politics.
You were a fair and understanding man to all.
You were a role model for Black men and women- young and old.
You loved your Blackness and always kept it real- just has your dreads grew long.
I love your poems of past generations and the love of family and friends.
You had just spoken of your Uncle Levi last week.
The streets of Oakland filled your soul from the Black Panthers to Noble poets such as Al Young. His flyer is still in your mailbox.
Your words have spread from Cali to Atlanta to New York.
You have been an unsung hero to many that respect and admire you.
At least I know I do.
I miss you Reggie- my friend.

Julinda Caldwell
5/18/08