We strutted, me and my
Girls
Up and down Julian St.
From Prairie to
Livernois
in unison
on hot summer days
of fun and no school.
Neighbors on front porches,
takin’ in the scenery,
seein’ us strut our stuff,
shakin’ their heads and
askin’ us “Who are you
supposed to be?”

“We’re the Julian Street Gang”
we said,
young almost wimmin,
showin’ our legs,
head bandin’, cornrowin’, afro tossin’, and
dirty gym shoein’
up and down and around
our Julian St.
domain…

While the fellas walked
behind, beside, around, and
in front yellin’ “Hey baby!”
and talkin’ stuff of
young, boy-men dreams.

We weren’t impressed outside,
but
inside was a different story…
where the giggles and the
flutters of the
butterflies played our
heart strings to the
beat of Sly and the Family, and the
Funkadelic tone, while
Marvin “Heard it through the Grapevine”
that we were “Signed, Sealed, and Delivered”
by Stevie Wonder-ful, and of course, that
made us feel
Supreme…
So
We strutted our stuff
up and down and around
our neighborhood…
The Julian Street Gang,
the rainbow girl-wimmin’
coalition, friends forever
sittin’ on the steps,
surveyin’ our kingdom
in our early
Queendom…

Singin’ sweet harmonies to
musical mentors
whose sounds caress
the bodies, playin’ tunes to
strut by,
singin’ soulful lullabies,
while we dance in
our dreams and
plot out our schemes
for another day of
Struttin’.