faded dixie rags of oxford

tuesday night
saw the white sheets
wriggle loose from the ancient roots
of cypress trees that no longer weep
as racism begins to rise
students burn campaign posters
spit on presidential photos
and chant 'nigger'
as if it will whisk them back
to when Colonel Reb
ran rampant
his standard that 'ol Dixie flag
each of them
forever beggars
pockets filled with hatred
mouths full of bigotry's lustful seed
and Colonel Reb
dies again like those flames
in a shroud of faded Dixie rags
leaving those ghosts
settled in Oxford
feasting on that hate
with morsels of mint

music break: Fela Kuti

in light of all that's happened these past two weeks
(the hurricane, the Presidential election, ANOTHER
storm and my power going out) i felt that Fela would
be a pick-me-up going into the weekend. enjoy!

impish moon

*for brownin*

this moon
on a night that sees light
absent under its outstretched hands
took pity on me
and took after your face
fully ripened
impish at the edges
wearing a glow that hums hymnal
a beauty that laughs at the world
laughs at far-flung gods & goddesses
laughs at itself
the moon
on a night that sees a city
wait for morning
finds me grateful
that it reminds me of you enough
that i keep my eyes upward

hurricane sandy haiku #2

every zombie show
doesn't beat the horror of
an empty Harlem

hurricane sandy haiku #1

looking at cracked earth
i know the sea just gave back
the hate we showed it

blackout by the beach

weather-beaten bulbs
in the promised gardens
south of 14th street
crackle with restored light
prompting cheers at the sight

do forgive those poor folk
in the hulking monuments of Bob Moses
that lie in Coney Island and Far Rock
they save their cries of being forgotten
as a way to ward off the wolves
in another of Sandy's lost nights

autumn cherrywine

maybe this hurricane
will bring forth enough rain
to stir bittersweet memories
churn them so they sit like sugar grain
upon a glass
perhaps there won't be enough rain
to wash that last bit of pulp away
apricot and lime
what time could have been
if you and i learned
exactly how we came to create
autumn cherrywine
and why you
still wear it upon your lips
in the pictures you have left me