Emmett Till
WANDA COLEMAN
August 28, 2020
1
river jordan run red
rainfall panes the bottom acreage - rain
black earth blacker still
blackness seeps in seeps down
the mortal gravity of hate-inspired poverty
Jim Crow nidus
the alabama the apalachinola the arkansas the aroostoock
the altamaha
killing of 14-year old
stirs nation. there will be a public wake
works its way underground
scarred landscape veined by rage
sanctified waters flow
go forth
the big horn the brazos
along roan valley walls blue rapids
wear away rock
flesh current quickly courses thru
the front page news amber fields purple mountains
muddies
the chattahoochie the cheyenne the chippewa the cimarron
the colorado the columbia the connecticut the cumberland
waftage
spirit uplifted eyes head hurt
imitation of breath chest aheave
the grotesque swim up the styx
level as rainwater culls into its floorplan
the des moines
blood river born
2
ebony robe aflow
swathed hair of the black madonna
bereft of babe
the flint
the hazel eye sees
the woman
she fine mighty fine
she set the sun arising in his thighs
the hudson the humbolt the illinois
and he let go a whistle
a smooth long all american hellelujah whistle
appreciation. a boy
coming into manhood whistle. a ma’am
what I’d like to do some day to some woman look as good
as you do to me whistle
the james the klamath
but she be a white woman. but he be
a black boy
the maumee the minnesota the mississippi the missouri
the mohican
raping her with that hazel eye
the ohio
make some peckerwood pass water mad
make a whole tributary of intolerance
the pearl the pecos the pee dee the penobscot the north platte
the south platte the potomac
vital fluid streaming forth in holy torrents
think about it. go made go blind
go back to africa go civil rights go go
the red the white the green
run wine
3
silt shallows the slow sojourn seaward
they awakened him from sleep
that early fall morning
scared white
they made him dress
they hurried Emmett down to the water edge
the roanoke
after the deed
they weighted him down
tossed him in
for his violation
the sacramento the salt the san juan the savannah
the smoke
from the deep dank murk of consciousness a birth
oh say do you see the men off
the bank dredging in that
strange jetsam
the tennessee the trinity
a lesson
he had to be taught -crucified (all a nigger
got on his mind) for rape by eye that
wafer-round hazel offender plucked out
they crown him
the wabash
cuz she was white woman virtue and he
be a black boy lust
the yazoo the yellowstone
oh say Emmett Till can you see Emmett Till
crossed over into campground
spill tears
nimbus threatening downpour
sweetwater culls into its soulplain
come forth to carry the dead child home
4
at my mouth forking
autumn 1955, lord!
kidnapped from his family visit
lord!
money road shanty
lord!
his face smashed in
lord! lord!
his body beaten beyond cognition
river mother carries him
alay in state
sovereign at last
that all may witness true majesty
cast eyes upon
murder
the youth’s body too light
was weighted down in barbed wire and steel
dumped into the river agape a ripple a wave
(once it was human)
aweigh. awade in water. bloated
baptised
and on that third say awaft
from the mulky arm of the tallahatchie
stretched across cotton-rich flats
of delta
on that third day
he rose
and was carried forth to that promise land