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Books by Marcus Bruce
Christian
Song of the Black Valiants: Marching Tempo
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High Ground: A Collection of Poems /
Negro soldiers in the Battle of New Orleans
I am New
Orleans: A Poem
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Negro Iron Workers of Louisiana: 1718-1900 /
The Liberty Monument
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DN26
Fever of Love &
Cry
the Beloved Country
January
1, 1960
This
is done on New Year's morning and I am a half-hour late starting
for the route -- 1960. The fire has been turned out since three
and the room is now cold:
Laying
there stretched full length in the chair, I began to think of a
poem in biblical fashion, a thing told as the olden one told
their tales; told with a fervor and soft labor that follows one
like the insistent scent of a perfume that will not dissolve in
air, clinging to one like a comfortable garment of special make
and texture, fashioned for his soul's delight.
And
so I began to type this thing in the same manner as in which the
poet must have penned Cry the Beloved Country:
And
the man came to the woman and said, "Solace me for I am
heated of body and distracted and uncomfortable. The fever of
love is upon me."
And
the woman said, "Solace you, indeed, and why should I do
such a thing for the likes of thee?"
And
the man said, "Because I am a man and feels as a man
feeleth overmuch at times, and because you are a woman and
having that which is a woman's, you should have answer in your
heart for one man who is like me, and take heed unto his needs,
for it is not meet in a land of many women that a man should go
around hungering for a woman's soft flesh."
And
the woman answered, "Go to, I do not like you, so why
should I trouble myself with thee? There are others in this
place, why have you not tried elsewhere, where there is a woman
more in mind of such things?"
And
the man answered, "But I saw you and my heart went out to
you, and I became sore and weary with a great pain in my soul
and I would make sweetness with thee and have you make sweetness
with me."
And
the woman looking at the man a second time, and feeling
something within her woman's soul, dropped her eyes, lest the
man should see that which leaped up in her heart, and her cheeks
blushed furiously, for she had never felt before in this way for
this man as she looked upon him, and deep within herself she was
sore troubled, being at first angry at him, she was now angry
with herself for having been disturbed by his advances.
And
the man, seeing the woman veiled eyes and deep blush, became
importunate and began to talk more earnestly and the timbre of
his low voice and the heat of his desire began to communicate
itself to the woman.
Whereupon
the man, boldly advancing, like a hunter who has caught sight of
his quarry, began to plead even more earnestly with the woman
who stood now disturbed before him. She desired to flee what was
arising within her and yet remained rooted, her fair shapely
feet making marks upon the hot, dry earth and her eyes burning
into it.
"When
I first saw thee, I longed for thee," said the man, "not
as a great man hoping to scale a mountain, not as a great sailor
burning to span an ocean, but as a diffident one gazing upon the
star of his dreams, daring not touch it. And holding myself from
thee, increased my thirst for thee, hearing thy sweet voice echo
through all my being, increased my ardor and the hunger rose
within me tenfold and I determined that I would have solace of
thee though I should die no sooner than we became one."
And
the woman standing before him, blushing more than ever and now
tongue-tied, tried to say something but her heart was not in her
speech nor her mind in what she said, being so disturbed and
confused. She made motion to say words, but only smiled and
stammered and hesitated and then grew silent and inscrutable.
And
the man placed his hands upon the woman's shoulders and she
shrank smaller and would have crept into the circle of his arms,
but with her head held low, she could see that the lower part of
his body moved nearer to hers and was now upon her, and his left
hand slid down her back and encompass her in the crook of his
arm; his strong right hand reached for her body and his long,
lean fingers began to tease at the nipple of her breast and she
was filled with longing and desire for him.
And
the man said, "Will you not solace me? Let the sweet
benison of thy mercy flow out and give me peace, for I am sore
hungered of you that I would eat and drink of you forever. Come,
and give me solace, and let me give you solace, and let us
solace ourselves together."
And
his left arm crooked closer about the woman, forcing her to him,
and his right hand began to bruise her nipple until she moaned
into his ear and bit her lips hard to keep back her agreement,
and her eyes looked up into his, intent, questioning,
half-frightened, resigned and half-daring, and her right breast
pressed sharply and insistently into his chest, and though the
word of agreement would not come, her head began to nod slowly
as she gazed up into his eyes, and lifted her face unto his.
And
the man now wrapped his strong right arm about her and pressed
her against his body so hard that she could scarcely draw
breath; her head fell back in abandonment and her long hair
streamed in the soft, caressing air; the man's strong face came
down to hers like something floating, swimming out of dreams,
and he kissed her soft full mouth bruisingly and hurtfully, but she did not flinch and their
bodies became light.
<<---Previous Next---27->> * *
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Selected Letters
Selected Diary Notes Memories of Marcus B. Christian
(Cains) Christian's
BioBibliographical Record Introduction to I AM NEW
ORLEANS
A
Theory of a Black Aesthetic Magpies,
Goddesses, & Black Male Identity
Activist Works on Next Level of Change
Intro to I Am New
Orleans
Letter from Dillard University
A
Labor of Genuine Love
Letter of Gift of
Photos
Letters from
LSU and Skip Gates * * *
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Negro Iron Workers of Louisiana: 1718-1900
By Marcus Bruce
Christian
Study of the blacksmith
tradition and New Orleans famous lace
balconies and fences.
Acclaimed during his life as the unofficial
poet laureate of the New Orleans
African-American community, Marcus Christian
recorded a distinguished career as
historian, journalist, and literary scholar.
He was a contributor to Pelican's
Gumbo Ya Ya, and also wrote many
articles that appeared in numerous
newspapers, journals, and general-interest
publications. |
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Audio:
My Story, My Song (Featuring blues guitarist Walter Wolfman Washington)
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Hopes and Prospects
By Noam Chomsky
In this urgent new book, Noam Chomsky
surveys the dangers and prospects of our
early twenty-first century. Exploring
challenges such as the growing gap
between North and South, American
exceptionalism (including under
President Barack Obama), the fiascos of
Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S.-Israeli
assault on Gaza, and the recent
financial bailouts, he also sees hope
for the future and a way to move
forward—in the democratic wave in Latin
America and in the global solidarity
movements that suggest "real progress
toward freedom and justice." Hopes and
Prospects is essential reading for
anyone who is concerned about the
primary challenges still facing the
human race. "This is a classic Chomsky
work: a bonfire of myths and lies,
sophistries and delusions. Noam Chomsky
is an enduring inspiration all over the
world—to millions, I suspect—for the
simple reason that he is a truth-teller
on an epic scale. I salute him." —John
Pilger
In dissecting the rhetoric and logic of
American empire and class domination, at
home and abroad, Chomsky continues a
longstanding and crucial work of
elucidation and activism . . .the
writing remains unswervingly rational
and principled throughout, and lends
bracing impetus to the real alternatives
before us.—Publisher's
Weekly
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Blacks in Hispanic Literature: Critical Essays
Edited by
Miriam DeCosta-Willis
Blacks in Hispanic Literature is a
collection of fourteen essays by scholars and
creative writers from Africa and the Americas.
Called one of two significant critical works on
Afro-Hispanic literature to appear in the late
1970s, it includes the pioneering studies of
Carter G. Woodson and
Valaurez B. Spratlin, published in the 1930s, as
well as the essays of scholars whose interpretations
were shaped by the Black aesthetic. The early
essays, primarily of the Black-as-subject in Spanish
medieval and Golden Age literature, provide an
historical context for understanding 20th-century
creative works by African-descended, Hispanophone
writers, such as Cuban
Nicolás Guillén and Ecuadorean poet, novelist,
and scholar
Adalberto Ortiz, whose essay analyzes the
significance of Negritude in Latin America. This
collaborative text set the tone for later
conferences in which writers and scholars worked
together to promote, disseminate, and critique the
literature of Spanish-speaking people of African
descent. . . .
Cited by a
literary critic in 2004 as "the seminal study in the
field of Afro-Hispanic Literature . . . on which
most scholars in the field 'cut their teeth'."
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The White Masters
of the World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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The
Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
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The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
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Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for Slavery /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
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January 1, 1804 -- The Founding
of Haiti
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