
Featured poet: Billy Tuggle
Matters Of Black Life
a haiku/senryu series
1.
I, as an adult,
fear few things; some intersect...
Republicans, clowns...
2.
March until your rights are
no longer in the footfalls,
but where you reside
3.
Seems like quotas on
Brown lives are hunting license
issued with a badge
4.
May the ancestors
bring prophets to the corners,
fight plagues on the streets
5.
We move
mountains
to protest
bad cops,
so you
should beware
of landslides
6.
If I could time-travel,
I'd tag directions on
Underground Railroad
7.
How many
offenses until
scholarship turns
into prison bid?
8.
When police go rogue
why is always the victims
that end up on trial?
9.
TSA fears my
tablet, journal, pens, your book...
What's in your backpack?
10.
Assert my right to
life before law enforcement;
Labeled "terrorist"
11.
White lady on train elbows me
but not clutching her bag
Well...OK
12.
Why conceal-carry
or open-carry
when library cards are free?
13.
Despite all of the
live fire tales, the sun still
shines over the Hood
14.
Ever since 15
I was like 'Fuck algebra...
Teach us human rights!'
Across 79th Street or Verses for Park Manor
Midday News
On the spot report:
Citizen dustup with police
on rapid transit platform
Friday night-fabulous on Tuesday morning,
Young mom yells,
“Fuck you, this is my last one!”
at Jake’s... "request to extinguish"
her misdemeanor and attitude
and consider the consequence of
your actions to the children with you
“Wrong answer,” reporter says
”Back to you.”
##
Evening News
Rush hour, street numbered "seventy-something"
Municipal license plate belie plain-style
Unmarked sedan, turns into alley
As squad car, siren muted,
Takes wrong-way toward suspects
“Nothing to see here,” they will say
Because once the flashlights come out,
To illuminate probable cause,
When they fit a description,
That is where the story starts
##
Nightly News
The dollar is void
Your leaders, corrupt
Your environment, toxic
Predators walk amongst us
While activists are arraigned
This is only 20% of the news
Yet 80% of the fear
So they try to counter
“Hurricane Annie ripped the ceiling off a church…”
With “…and now sports”
##
Every day, anytime
the clock strikes now...
Walk down my street
like you were here yesterday
Greet my neighbors with a knowing nod
Don’t mistake the average kid for your basic stereotype
For many, it’s just a pose to keep them current,
shoulder-to-shoulder with their peers, alive
Don’t ask strangers if they are lost
Especially if they are of pale hues
It’s hard to be lost in a neighborhood
in which you stand out
As much as the Currency Exchange or funeral home
The unfamiliarity is mutual
To alleviate any anxieties
The aroma of barbecue cuts through the pollution
Daily parrots’ migration distract from Midway’s flight pattern
The soundtrack of kids playing should make anybody feel at home
or, if you please, on holiday
Walk down my street
like you are planning a return trip
then make one
Do it with your head up
Use a smile as a passport
Give “Hello" like a jackpot
Like the day is a gift
That you came to share
Nine
for Oscar Grant and kindred victims
I have felt its deadly, steel weight,
held its textured grip in my palm,
looked through its sight at a paper silhouette,
squeezed its power-relieving trigger,
seen the piercing hammer bring multiple rounds to terminal velocity,
felt its taut recoil in my wrist and elbow,
smelled the burn of powder and know its undertaste,
I have never been trained for this under government watch
but have never mistaken this last resort for a stun gun