Neon vernacular new and selected poems by Yusef Komunyakaa

Author:Yusef Komunyakaa [Komunyakaa, Yusef]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Poetry
ISBN: 9780819512116
Publisher: Wesleyan
Published: 1993-03-14T18:30:00+00:00

Page 79

Addendum

I'm a bone roller,

a high roller,

listening to Lester Young

& Big Mama Thornton,

Peacock 1612.

I'm a street nigger

from way back when: I am

multilateral

extended metaphors

for cellblock blues

& Cat-Eye balling the jack.

I'm a womb-scratcher.

I'm a double-dealer.

I'm the chance you take

with the past tonight.

Page 80

Epilogue to the Opera of Dead on Arrival

I can still sing

"Ain't Goin' Down to the Well

No Mo' " like Leadbelly.

Blow out the candles

& start all anew.

Where's Sweet Luck?—

a kiss from that woman.

It's the way starlight

struck the blade. If only

I could push down on her chest

& blow a little breath

into her mouth, maybe.

Handcuff me, slam my head

against bars of the jailhouse,

use your blackjacks,

zero in on my weaknesses,

let enough melancholy

to kill a mule

settle into my lungs.

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