Soul Traveler.
not dispersing but containing blackness
it was the ending of the 1950s and so reruns began
like Amazon style, summer came calling, fried brains and all
dumbfounded in Los Angeles where mosquitoes
drowse in noonday heat
bloodlust drained from tropical eyes
the air thin as a ghost's brassiere
pimpmobiles took the heights like llamas
where dollars shine from foreheads as smooth as polished fenders
and from oversized designer pocketbooks
toted under shaved and flavored underarms
breasts revealed in bright colors, tank tops and bustiers
negra Afro angel
pat those cheeks in Spanish, those too round stutters
and lingo dug by all
quietly there's reciprocation in snatches from whistling lips,
sunbeams and posters of James Dean
(shy tourist girl, a face all acne and inexperience
shares her mother's private smile
buy something, some trinket, support the local economy)
the emissary from G.O.D. calls me over
places the silver cross at my throat, fixes me
with agate eyes, fingers splayed against
my hips. i follow him to the other side of the moon,
count the hours under azure, feign reaches for my pen
note: plastic trash bags, cheap jewelry, the ebony cat in the
cradle
i am made of ocean spray,
condor feathers and memories of sin
Wanda Coleman's most recent book of poems is "Mercurochrome Mer·cu·ro·chrome A trademark for a preparation of merbromin. Mercurochrome, n the brand name for merbromin. mercurochrome see merbromin. " (Black Sparrow, 2001). Her book "Bathwater Wine" (Black Sparrow, 1998) received the 1999 Lenore Lenore “saintly soul floats on the Stygian river.” [Am. Lit.: “Lenore” in Hart, 468] See : Death Lenore the lost love with whom the poet learns that he will nevermore be united. [Am. Marshall Marshall. 1 City (1990 pop. 12,711), seat of Saline co., N central Mo.; inc. 1839. In a large farm area, it is a processing center for grain, eggs, meat, and dairy products. Marshall is the seat of Missouri Valley College. Prize presented by the Academy of American Poets The Academy of American Poets is the preeminent organization in the United States dedicated to the art of poetry. History The academy was created in 1934 in New York City by Mrs. and The Nation magazine. Coleman Cole·man , Cy Originally Seymour Kauffman. Born 1929. American composer and theatrical producer whose best known Broadway productions include Sweet Charity (1966) and The Will Rogers Follies (1991). was the first African American African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. woman to receive the award. |
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