amiri baraka

after baraka

From the rooftops hefty bunches of bananas

hang in long threads of yellow, beneath a red sun.

The tunnels are endless. Roundfaced hotel girls ask me how much

school is a year. Ignorance is prevalent with Poverty. I am

ignorant too in my own way. There is no logic. Where were you

born? And to whom? The words I recognize are "shi jie." They mean

world. There is only one but you are in the saddest third. Her eyes are

big and she speaks softly. Unable.

I heard you killed yourself at your own party.

I was awake. I was out. I could have been there, but I wasn't.

I have not wanted to die for a long time. But now I must choose

between poetry and sanity. Lust, and reason.

I hold back the dam for if it spills I will be flooded and

all will be lost. But my poetry will be excellent, then.

Will there be new flowers after the rain, or will the desert

be drier than ever before? At McDonald's we order the

McGangbang, because it is the best deal. Don't even blink.

The tunnels are endless.