Genesis (The Rebirth of My Heart)

Two poems in the book appear directly back to back, and it seems likely that both are meant for the same woman. Directly before Genesis (The Rebirth of My Heart) stands The Power of a Smile, which is headed “4 Renee”; Genesis itself is inscribed “Dedicated 2 Renee Ross”. Nothing about her is documented. The poem is often listed simply as Genesis. In the book The Rose That Grew from Concrete, the full title is Genesis (The Rebirth of My Heart)—and only that title reveals what it is about: a heart that begins to beat anew after a long stretch of loneliness.

In the Beginning There Was Nothing

The title alludes to the first book of the Bible, and the opening follows this pattern: at first there was nothing, not even the distant echo of a song. Loneliness defined the speaker’s everyday life until the woman he addresses arrived. In her eyes he saw stars, and she found a friend in him.

The poem then describes an attraction he could not resist and a sense of relief: as soon as she was near, the worries that plagued him disappeared. The ending explains the subtitle: the day she became his friend was the rebirth of his heart. From the moment he held her in his arms, he knew he would love again.

First Friendship, Then Love

As in many poems in this section of the book, friendship comes before romance. Twice the word “Friend” appears at a pivotal point, and only out of that does love grow. The “again” in the final line reveals a backstory: the speaker has loved and lost before. Reading the poems in the book’s order, Genesis comes shortly after the end of the relationship with April in March 1st, The Day After April. Whether that order corresponds to the sequence of their creation, however, is not documented.

According to the preface by Afeni Shakur, the poems were written between 1989 and 1991; Genesis is not dated more precisely. The introduction provides an overview of the entire book and all the poems.