Middle Passage

      (After Reverend Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr.)

                             By Jeannette Drake

Cameras clicking.

Numbers flipping.

Blood's dripping.

We know about pain,

priestly Pharisaic gain.

Colored Negro African Black

American yo' momma shame.

Back-stab your daddy

brother, cousin, grandmomma too.

What else is there to do

if I need another fix of fame?

If I go down, you do too.

This boat's a rocking.

I ain't Jesus and neither are you.

The mask I wear streaks red, white and blue!

1 May 2008