National Poetry Month: Anthony Antoine

Anthony Antoine

"Curiosity and the Hennessy" (Anthony Antoine)

You keep calling me and always knocking on

my door

Though you say you’re not down so what you

keep knocking for

And you say there’s certain things you just won’t do

But behind closed doors oh if they only knew

Bridge

You say to let you in, you wanna work it out

I’ll let you in if you shake it all about

I can be that kind of guy, don’t even know why

But I’ll let you justify your actions with a lie

What’s up between you and me

Is a secret that I can keep

Call it whatever you please

Curiosity and the Hennessy

But we both know it’s a lie

You were curious you can’t deny

And that’s a dangerous mix with me

Curiosity and the Hennessy

Here you go again sweatin’ me outside my door

How can you not be down when you keep coming

back for more

Is it that you think your sins are forgiven by the dark

of night

Or is it just that good to you or that I do it right, hit it

right for you

You say to let you in, you wanna work it out

I’ll let you in if you shake it all about

I can be that kind of guy, don’t even know why

But I’ll let you justify your actions with a lie

We do the hokey pokey

Though you say that you’re not down

We do the hokey pokey

You done got yourself turned out

Another “DL” love that blames it on the buzz

I guess that’s just what its all about

"Curiosity and the Hennessy" appears on the 2009 album Closets on Fire and was written and performed by Anthony Antoine. Antoine is a self-proclaimed child of the eighties and eighties music, who began his music career after a move to London at the age of seventeen. In England he released What’s Goin’ Down on ZYX Records and the jazz influenced Under Your Spell, with Ronny Jordan, on Island Records.  “I realize now that if I had achieved the level of success that I wanted in London, I would probably be a very closeted and unhappy person today.  That level of success, regardless of any amount of money I could have made would have prevented me from coming to terms with my true self, the single most profound “self-work” that fuels my happiness today.”  Antoine also completes the trio The Adodi Muse, A Gay Negro Ensemble: a traveling poetry performance group combining poetry, music and performance.  Activist Freak: The Sex & Social Justice Mixtape (2008) is his ninth project, which he describes as “the perfect mix of two strong energies within me; activism and freak."

The Atlanta Queer Literary Festival will host a community reading April 20 featuring the poet as well as other LGBT poets and writers, including Glenda Corwin, Alice Teeter, Harold Lefall, Collin Kelley, Dustin Brookshire, Mose Hardin, Young Hughley, Sharon J. Sanders, Gabe Moses, Iyana, Megan A. Volpert, Antron Rechaud, Lynne Huffer, and Jef Blocker. The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Decatur (GA) Library auditorium; for more information, visit www.atlqueerlitfest.com