After the Poetry Reading, Black (with annotations) 3

Resource added
did you say 'WHAT trap?'--
and pull it out safe, betterbooted,
brand new with kickass sole and rubberclubber heel; 
wants to drop dead from grief 
they forcefed down your daddy's throat;
wants to choke and drown in the bloody wake
where scores of you 
oh, once upon a time in chains 
together flung yourselves into the sea; 
wants style to fight the wolves and feed the lash 
and taste the worms and eat the trash, 
and Charlie-Hero of it all 
die upfront, gasping on the stage; 
yeah, wants you, the Deppity Shuriff, Black Knight,
President with the white popgun, 
to shoot him down dead...
while to applause, behind adoring screams, 
he crawls to life again, 
stands up The Man, 
junglemaker who in the dark 
created all--the trap, the chains, the wolves,
himself as playmaker, adtaker, 
hawker of tickets to the show, 
auctioneer of stars 
oh, stars that once upon a time 
fell from the sky in chains of fire....”

Shirtpocketed my Trans-a-lator,

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 3)

  • type
    Image
  • created on
  • file format
    jpg
  • file size
    646 KB
  • container title
    James A. Emanuel Papers
  • creator
    James A. Emanuel
  • issue
    BOX 5 FOLDER 12 "Whole Grain and Later Poems of James A. Emanuel (Annotated by the Auhtor), draft, part I, 1995 (2 of 2)
  • rights
    James A. Emanuel Estate
  • rights holder
    James A. Emanuel Estate
  • version
    1976/1977