Sunrise in the Urban South

sweat and steam in a night that opens like a parasol

and I am threaded

tight like a piano wire

cool like a holy man holy man

round like an eight ball

and white like my own shame

cloaked in cotton and rounding the bend

into a nightmare I had intended to skip

walk out early and loiter in the street

until the jag caught up with me and I had to trim

some upright motherfucker

for the money his momma left him

but then the surprise ending I wrote myself

leaps from the screen and says, YOU MOTHERFUCKER

and the green thoughts my mind had

fall apart like a weak solo

that whimpering sick voice my own bleeding

no, man, no, not me

sounds bounced back like the brick walls of a blind alley

and the dark is still dark the dark is still dark

and the outline just shows from the streetlights

the outline big and black and blue steel

and from shivering and shaking I got moving teeth

crawling through my mouth like maggots

and I run a wet hand through my hair

and breathe deep and my breath steams

and I lean on a wall and run a wet hand through my hair

and I know I will see the light of day

and I know I will see the light of day

and I crouch and shake like a blown out tire

with a head full of violence

and a hand full of nothing

James MacFarlane Williams