poet

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Solemnly I swear to uphold the laws of this great land… except for Roe Vs. Wade… the Clean Air and Water Act the Endangered Species Act… free speech, right to assemble, no bid contract… wait… what? Oh, that’s ok. I pledge allegiance to Hum Vees, SUVs, Saudi Royal Family. I pledge allegiance to an average report card … to the Texas Heir National Guard. because… I thought it was Heir, not Air. Because I’m heir to the Bush throne. But it’s hard… being president. It’s hard work. I pledge allegiance to Swift Boats for Sleuth and muddying up the voting booth. To the red steaks… and the blue. It’s time to separate the hate mongers so we can examinate our defenseries And come to a pository plastitude. Time to decrease the incarceration rate (unless it’s for ballot tampering). Before it’s too late. I steer the ship of state! Bring the flood, father. And let Damien Liebeskind freedom’s child, I’ve asked my friend to build a fountain in the Holy Land to honor the G Spot, a truly holy act. I pledge allegiance to the Patriot Act. You wanna read my e-mail? I’ll write in Farsi— what a farce— one nation under a goon. Under the hood a donkey doing a unicorn. Keep the myth alive! In spite of cuckoo clocks making a mockery of democracy. Mission Accomplished! What? Oh, not yet? Oh, not yet. Enron, Chevron, da doo ron ron. Haliburton good. Gay marriage… a constitutional amendment! Mary Cheney, she’s no daughter of Dick Cheney… there’s not a gay boner in his body. She must be Osama’s bin Laden’s love puppy. They all worked together. Free pot, whachugot, Laura willl take it. Smirk whine peeve pretend… put on my privliged brat routine. Eagle fly—bomb the sky with pledges of allegiance…. I steer the ship of state. Schwarzenegger, he’s my pronegee… see. Terminator, gubernator… soon you will be Presidentator! Non residentator… green card girlie menator. Immigration, elimination. Doesn’t matterator! No problemo! See. Diebold and ESO had him cloned in Ohio…. 180,000 damaged ballots in Florida in 2000. That was children’s play. 100% voting errors favored me in 2004. 100% (and more—I could die laughing) of some of my precincts voting… see… Americans… arrogance is romance. Ignorance is a pistol! You catch my draft? That’s why I’m publishing my own dictionater. with words like nyucuhler and libral… So’s ya’ll can learn to pronunciate more clearier. Amen. Hot dog. Thank you God for entrusting me with the keys to the future of cheap energy. I pledge allegiance to Bush. Read my lapse. Hail to the chaff! Jeffrey Cyphers Wright

GO BAG We’re using up all the good shit fast here. And leaving a fat mess. Screwing it royally. Hangin’ by the EXIT sign. Kinda nervous are we? Awash in worthless Lotto tickets. Hello! Is anybody in charge around here? We’ve got like a crisis on our hands here. Is everybody sleeping already? I hate to piss on your dream parade but Wake Up! My eyes full of dust suddenly embryotic tear freezer—hear my song. Before it’s too late. Tomorrow’s already got blood on it. Jeffrey Cyphers Wright

Didn’t anybody notice? Yes, I’m talking to you. Flap on a cardboard Smirnoff box waves lazily in a dry rustle under mulberry. Tiny plastic square, a dime bag lies inert in the dirt and rubble. Styrofoam flecks. Atoms of ground brick dust from the demolished buildings, the gutted remains of the ghetto heroin burn out. We’re using up all the good shit fast here. Rusty hubcap keyboard catsup bottle dove soap empty blue moldy shower curtains. In the dustbin of history we search for the Exit sign. Surrounded by burnt out candles and black lights. Now having reached this patch of desolation between the project and my back window I can idle away an hour under the arching silver birch. Everywhere the detritus of "the greatest nation on earth" chokes and cakes, flotsam and jetsam. Discarded packaging of our image fixation… entertain me neediness self assertion power. Accessorizing rip criminal hubris evidence cover up I don’t know why my eyes full of dust suddenly embryonic tear freezer—hear my song O Fortuna. Green lights outside the precinct headquarters Billy the Kid ghost rider in Mesilla rides again. America, you’re not a teenager anymore melting icecap. Broken ice shelf. Escape to nowhere. Erehwon. Where we at, chief. Yo! Commander in chief. Fossil fools. Hear the waterfall up ahead. The banks grow farther away. Farewell, Angelina. Good night and good luck. Good night, Grace. Hasta la vista, sister. It’s all over now, Baby Blue. See you in September. See you, wouldn’t wanna be you. No, seriously. I think we missed our cue. * My dream unfurls and is snapped by the wind, hungry dogs roam. Bodies lie in the streets. Clouds march across the sky in uniforms of lead, leading to nowhere, erasing my words. Stealing the sun. Our footprints gather at a shrine to the dust. Can you hear the seconds whispering? Conspiring. Plotting. * Hear the waterfall ahead? Can’t see shore any more. Take me with you, over the gnawing edge. Atlantis calls from the future. Dolphins smile. Remember that poster from college: "The meek shall inherit the earth." * In the capital officials wash their hands. Barbarians pour through the gates. The king sleeps like a bear all the time. Snore City. Hibernates. Waiters nibble on chocolate clocks. The sands run out, the hour is late. Cabbies wait at the deserted station like barracudas circling ghost bait. On the hill owls gather, their eyes aswirl, grey wings singed by fate. * I mean, we’ve had our frikkin’ fun. Now it’s time to seriously get down. Jeffrey Cyphers Wright 06

Last Update 2006-12-20 | Copyright© Charles Mingus 2008 | |