The mouth of the
universe opens up in Lee Circle
Zulu pounding
pavement Beyonce kicking through Peavy speakers
On the back of a
float shucking beads on a clear blue February morn
Panther party on the
crest of kings eight a.m.
Grass skirt black
face white-ring mouth warriors holla
Orange helicopter
fight club whirling in the sky
Watching what
happening at the New Orleans
McDonough 35 stomp
sight of four year old afro queen
Spying through the
legs of the Tulane fraternity scene
North Face backpack,
young one smile, who got the coconut stack?
Hauling that pink
cute leopard print afro puffs and cold hands
Shaking hips to the
brass blast of the slay band
Chicken leg bone
lying in the street between the world and me
Mamas seated at the
curb welcome back what you serve
Coffee cup, Bud
Light, Crown and apple, moon pies
Flying in the
wrapped impressions of desegregated nations
Turn up from Jackson
Avenue instead of Napoleon
Set the lineup and
where to avoid pandemonium
Rex to the West and
not headed to Treme
Vibration of the
bass drum, two four cadence be
Tapping that stick
with a wind whip
Bare neck cold drink
and a sin sip
Holla daiquiri tiger
thread feathers
Audacity of Bey say
it on the field whether
They say ok with the
referee tape measure
Take ‘Em down Nola
packed house get together’s
Soul warrior ghosts
necks noosed on the loose
Shed blood dripping
out the sun cakes
Mary red celery,
white onion, green pepper
Gumbo shrimp sausage
creole trend setter
Pink sweatshirt
iZulu tail feathers
Shake for some of
that good shit; show me how you move it
Achebe things fall
apart majorette Deshauna
Gilded stepper, Ohh
Tribe street-power hot sauce on ya
Crystal clear
butterfly wings face paint mouths off
Open up telling it
best believe fists up
Acrobatics of
motherhood baby in arm
Pieces of the sun
glittering between natural hair on
Weave behind bead
magnet of held youth
Mama catch it all
with one hand, no little boy fall, that’s a Nola mam
Daddy got his older
sister on his shoulders
Tiara in princess
braids hands up, don’t scoot, just throw
Arms grabbing those
black coconuts
Zulu marching families
and privilege of what
Whoop whoop da sound
of da police
Mixed in the show
horseback overseer
Waving smiles crowd playing
along
1909 to 2016 hundreds
of years strong
Benevolent aid
community insurance Basin Street blues
Confederacy of a
snare drum and patent leather shoes
Bare feet Solomon
Northup mud run
Bodies stacked
behind the barricade toe tapping minstrel sing son
Orleans to the
interstate at Broad, Indians calling alarm
Pretty feathers
beads don’t sleep to stitch Lundi Gras to Mardi Gras morn
Call out tribes no
rest Monk Boudreaux Golden Eagle vest
Got your soul out
today get up and flaunt it!
Got your soul out
today get up and flaunt it!
Hail Rex fake beard
proceeded by horsemen in hoods
Masked face purple,
green, and gold scepter who should
Call out stop down
Lee circle and round
Private clubs still
vote to keep these costumes in town
Paint a black face,
white in a hood, confederate statues abound
Erected dissected symbols
and sounds
Big buck mysticism
systematic other isms
Archaic history lessons
marching and found
Mixed up gumbo
slurping it down
Dirty boxed chicken
bones, parking meter selfie-cell phones
Whistle stop
struggle in the buttress of faith
Little boy about to
fall for a coconut out the bag
Hand of a writer on
his back says, “I got you” as he picks up his swag
Shadows pass all
good feeling the wind
New Orleans Zulu I
am feeling you in
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