Skip to main contentResource added ![112
turned to leave the stage,
but stage itself seemed turning,
follow-moving, circling me,
enfolding me upfront--though I felt leaving down the aisle
not looking back--until some curtain roase
and audience was new, was Black,
was waiting.
Must be some trick my Trans-s-lator knew:
pushed in that chromobutton “Black”
and only heard the beating of my heart;
kept pushing it till floor rose up on sounds
like hoofbeats on the grass,
booBOOF- booBOOF- booBOOF-, and faster,
till breath around was tight as if
the climax of some play was on
and I was sitting in the crowd--
booBOOF- booBOOF- booBOOF- as all in the air
[*A listener at City College admired this breathing technique.*]
The brother next to me turned like a page
close to my eyes;
“ThaCHU he was talking bout?” he said.
He meant the short Black man upfront
who meant the poem I mean to write
as I said “Yes”
up-coming from The Veil…
[*Du Bois’s well-known “veil” idea in The Souls of Black Folk.*]
A neat, pale hand extended blocked my path](https://cuny.manifoldapp.org/system/resource/2/c/6/2c68041e-447e-42fd-b316-65c9c437d5ce/attachment/0e236a4541d4b0bd23f9369e08dc3493.jpg)
![112
turned to leave the stage,
but stage itself seemed turning,
follow-moving, circling me,
enfolding me upfront--though I felt leaving down the aisle
not looking back--until some curtain roase
and audience was new, was Black,
was waiting.
Must be some trick my Trans-s-lator knew:
pushed in that chromobutton “Black”
and only heard the beating of my heart;
kept pushing it till floor rose up on sounds
like hoofbeats on the grass,
booBOOF- booBOOF- booBOOF-, and faster,
till breath around was tight as if
the climax of some play was on
and I was sitting in the crowd--
booBOOF- booBOOF- booBOOF- as all in the air
[*A listener at City College admired this breathing technique.*]
The brother next to me turned like a page
close to my eyes;
“ThaCHU he was talking bout?” he said.
He meant the short Black man upfront
who meant the poem I mean to write
as I said “Yes”
up-coming from The Veil…
[*Du Bois’s well-known “veil” idea in The Souls of Black Folk.*]
A neat, pale hand extended blocked my path](https://cuny.manifoldapp.org/system/resource/2/c/6/2c68041e-447e-42fd-b316-65c9c437d5ce/attachment/medium-e0c53b9970019b06a59d6af7e9fcc2fd.jpg)
After the Poetry Reading, Black (with annotations) 4
Full description
Poem written by Emanuel in 1976-1977/1978, typed with handwritten notes specifying where he worked on this poem: France, Poland, and Holland. The narrator notices that Black creatives are limited in their art when they set out to only create Black art, without incorporating their individuality. (Page 4)
Comments
Log in to view and add comments.
Annotations
No one has annotated a text with this resource yet.
- typeImage
- created on
- file formatjpg
- file size650 kB
- container titleJames A. Emanuel Papers
- creatorJames A. Emanuel
- issueBOX 5 FOLDER 12 "Whole Grain and Later Poems of James A. Emanuel (Annotated by the Auhtor), draft, part I, 1995 (2 of 2)
- rightsJames A. Emanuel Estate
- rights holderJames A. Emanuel Estate
- version1976/1977